tihvavy  of  ^he  Irheolo^ical  ^tmmary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


From  the  library  of  Prof. 
Benjamin  Breckinridge  Warfield, 
Bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Library 
of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 


SIMON    PETER: 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 


BY 


CHAS.  S/ ROBINSON,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU  STREET,   NEW  YORK. 


COPYRIGHT,  1S89, 
AMERICAN   TRACT  SOCIETY. 


PREFACE. 

The  experiment,  which  has  been  ventured  upon 
in  the  present  volume,  has  been  somewhat  difficult, 
and  I  do  not  yet  see  whether  it  will  be  altogether 
successful.  The  chapters  are  nothing  more  or  less 
than  lectures  delivered  in  the  course  of  my  pastoral 
work  in  the  pulpit.  I  have  wondered  If  they  would 
not  prove  easier  reading  If  they  were  cast  into  the 
form  of  a  biographical  sketch,  taking  up  the  inci- 
dents in  the  order  of  the  Harmonies  of  the  Gospels. 
But,  do  what  I  would,  they  are  very  much  like  ex- 
pository discourses  now;  and  lam  willing  to  help 
the  notion  by  adding  texts  to  the  Table  of  Contents. 
I  positively  like  an  occasional  repetition  of  thought 
and  didactic  illustration  which  I  detect ;  for  such 
lessons  are  precisely  what  I  hope  most  from  In  any 
forms  of  good  they  may  do.  So  I  dismiss  the  work 
to  the  public,  frankly,  with  a  wish  that  those  who 
love  this  old  disciple  as  I  do,  may  be  helped  under 
the  rehearsal  of  his  weaknesses  and  strengths  as  I 
have  been  along  the  years  which  were  spent  in  the 
study  of  his  career. 

Charles  Seymour  Robinson. 

Nev/  York:  57  East  Fifty-fourth  Street,  June  1889. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE. 

I. — A  Misunderstood  Disciple 5 

"  The  gospel  of  the  circumcision  was  committed  unto  Peter."— 
Gal.  2.7. 

II.— Simon's  Parentage  and  Home 14 

"  Bethsaida,  the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter."— John  i  -.44. 

III.— Boyhood  in  Gennesaret 24 

"And  Jesus,  walking  by  tlie  sea  of  Galilee,  saw  two  brethren, 
Simon  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother,  casting  a  net." 
— Matt.  4:18. 

IV. — Going  up  to  Jerusalem 34 

"Thrice  in  the  year  shall  all  your  men  children  appear  before 
the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  Israel."— ExoD.  34.23. 

V. — The  Fourteenth  of  Nisan 45 

"  Observe  the  month  of  Abib,  and  keep  the  passover  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God."— Deut.  16:1. 

VI.— Simon's  First  Passover 54 

"And  thou  shalt  show  thy  son  in  that  day,  saying.  This  is  done 
because  of  ihat  which  the  Lord  did  unto  me  when  I  came 
forth  out  of  Eg\'pt."— ExoD.  13:8. 

VII.— Judas  the  Gaulonite 65 

"After  this  man  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee." — Acts  5:37. 

VIII.— Twenty  Troubled  Years 77 

"At  the  first  he  ligiitly  afflicted  the  land  of  Zebulun,  and  the 
land  of  Napiuali,  and  afterward  did  more  grievously  afflict 
her  by  the  way  of  the  sea,  beyond  Jordan,  in  Galilee  of  the 
nations."— IsA.  9:1. 

IX.— The  Voice  in  the  Wilderness 88 

"  He  said.  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness."— 
John  1:23. 

X. — The  Finding  of  Simon 100 

"  He  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon."— John  1:41. 

XI.— Simon  Becomes  Peter iii 

"Thou  art  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona:  thou  shalt  be  called  Ce- 
phas."— ^JoHN  1.42. 

XII.— The  School  of  Grace 121 

"And  they  straightway  left  their  nets,  and  followed  him."— 
Matt.  4:20. 


XIII.— Obedience  and  Success 132 

"  Nevertheless,  at  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net." — Luke 
5:5- 

XIV.— "Hither!   Behind  Me!" 143 

"And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Come  j'e  after  me."— Mark  1:17. 

XV.— Fishers  of  Men ic;^ 

"  And  Jesus  said  unto  Simon,  Fear  not:  from  henceforth  thou 
shalt  catch  men." — Luke  5:10. 

XVI.— Simon's  Wife's  Mother 166 

"  And  Simon's  wife's  mother  was  taken  with  a  great  fever."— 
LuKK  4:38. 

XVII.— Jairus'  Daughter  Raised 176 

"  For  he  had  one  only  daughter,  about  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  she  lay  a-dying." — Luke  8:  42. 

XVIII. — Sheep  Without  a  Shepherd 190 

"  They  were  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd."— Mark  6:  34. 

XIX. — The  Walk  on  the  Water 204 

"  When  Peter  was  come  down  out  of  the  ship,  he  walked  on 
the  water." — Matt.  14:29. 

XX. — The  Great  Confession 217 

"  Thou  art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. "—John  6:69. 

XXI. — The  Gift  of  the  Keys 229 

"And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." — Matt.  16:19. 

XXII. — "Behind  Me,  Satan!" 242 

"He  rebuked  Peter,  saying,  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan." — 
Mark  8:33. 

XXIII. — "With  Him  in  the  Holy  Mount" 253 

"And  this  voice  which  came  from  heaven  we  heard,  when  we 
were  with  him  in  the  holy  mount." — 2  Pet.  1:18. 

XXIV. — Fishing  to  Pay  Tribute 267 

"  Take  up  the  fish  that  first  cometh  up ;  and  when  thou  hast 
opened  his  mouth,  tliou  shalt  find  a  piece  of  money."— 
Matt.  17:27. 

XXV.— The  True  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness 2S2 

"Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  say  not  unto  thee,  Until  seven  times; 
but,  Until  seventy  times  seven." — Matt.  18:22. 

XXVI — "An  Hundred-Fold" 295 

"  He  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold  now  in  this  time." — Mark 
10:30. 


SIMON  PETER, 

HIS    EARLY    LIFE   AND    TIMES, 


CHAPTER  I. 

A    MISUNDERSTOOD    DISCIPLE. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  once  gave  this  definition  of 
a  weed:  "A  weed  is  a  plant  out  of  place, "  But  la- 
ter in  his  life,  he  happened  to  be  commenting  upon 
the  skill  of  naturalists  in  the  investigation  of  vege- 
table forms,  habits,  and  peculiarities.  His  admiration 
was  kindled,  as  he  thought  how  many  thousands  of 
species  and  genera  had  been  already  classified  in  the 
botanies.  ''  Hence  a  new  definition  of  a  weed, "  he 
continued;   ''a  weed  is  a  plant  not  yet  understood." 

It  is  easy  to  classify  fishermen  of  Galilee  as  apostles 
"out  of  place. "  But  it  would  be  fairer  to  wait  a 
while;  possibly  we  shall  be  willing  before  long  to  fol- 
low the  hasty  definition  with  the  corrective,  and  say 
they  may  be  apostles  ''not  yet  understood.  "  At  all 
events,  the  biography  of  such  a  man  as  Simon  Peter 
will  bear  some  more  study.  We  may  be  sure  it  will 
rise  in  our  estimation  in  proportion  to  the  measure 
of  acquaintance  we  reach  with  its  particulars  and  its 
purpose.  For  the  fact  is,  he  has  been  frightfully  mis- 
represented for  centuries. 


6  SIMON    PETER; 

Simon  Peter  stands  at  this  hour  in  a  very  peculiar 
position,  as  between  two  registers  of  public  opinion. 
On  the  one  side,  cavilers  have  found  fault  with  his 
low  origin,  his  impulsive  disposition,  his  rough  man- 
ners, and  especially  his  great  sin  of  denying  his  Lord. 
On  the  other  side,  tradition-makers  have  exalted  him 
to  the  headship  of  a  hierarchical  system,  and  have 
so  surrounded  his  biography  with  tales  of  foolish 
fancy  that  the  real  man  is  lost.  A  fair  question  is 
before  us :  Is  the  world  willing  to  accept  a  true  pict- 
ure of  the  Apostle  of  the  Circumcision?  The  gla- 
mour of  what  is  called  high-art,  as  well  as  the  super- 
stition of  high-churchism,  conceals  his  figure.  Yet 
there  never  lived  an  honester,  plainer,  or  more  thor- 
oughly genuine  man.  It  is  unfair  that  all  the  useful 
force  of  his  human  record  should  be  surrendered,  just 
because  a  dressing-block  is  needed  in  a  system,  itself 
created  out  of  a  perversion.  Even  John  Milton  in 
his  *'Lycidas"  talks  about — 

**  The  pilot  of  the  Galilean  lake ; 

Two  massy  keys  he  bore,  of  metals  twain, 
(The  golden  opes,  the  iron  shuts  amain); 
He  shook  his  mitred  locks,  and  stern  bespake." 

With  the  triple  crown  on  his  head,  and  the  great 
keys  in  his  hand,  the  imagination  grows  bewildered 
in  trying  to  conceive  of  a  *' pilot"  in  guise  of  a  priest. 
Such  a  creature  is  no  more  a  fisher  of  men  than  a 
fisher  of  fish.  He  is  but  a  vague  unreality,  and 
eludes  all  attempts  at  classification. 
Z'  Simply  told,  the  narrative  of  Simon's  life  is  one  of 
I    the  most  romantic  In  this  world's  history.    He  was  the 


A    MISUNDERSTOOD    DISCIPLE. 

only  man  ever  known  to  cast  a  hook  in  deep  water 
for  a  coin  to  pay  his  taxes  with.  He  was  the  only 
man  we  read  of  whose  feet  trod  on  waves,  finding, 
until  his  faith  failed,  a  foothold  underneath  them  like 
rock.  He  came  forth  of  a  sudden  from  the  obscurity 
of  a  recordless  existence  into  a  front  rank  as  a  preacher 
of  the  new  gospel ;  yet  his  greatest  lesson  of  doctrine 
was  received  from  a  sheet  full  of  living  creatures,  clean 
and  unclean,  dropped  down  out  of  heaven.  He  was 
led  out  of  prison  by  an  angel,  who  bewildered  him  as 
he  delivered  him;  and  when  he  stood  at  the  door 
of  a  familiar  prayer-meeting,  the  friends  on  their  knees 
declared  he  was  his  own  ghost. 

There  was  never  anything  whatsoever  about  Simon 
Peter  to  be  set  down  as  tame  or  commonplace.  Had 
he  any  father  to  be  proud  of?  Yes  ;  but  all  we  know 
of  Jonas  is  that  Simon  was  his  son.  What  was  his 
mother's  descent  ?  Nobody  can  tell ;  it  was  left  to 
after  years  for  visionary  tradition  to  give  her  the  name 
of  Johanna.  Had  he  a  wife  ?  One  evangelist  says  he 
had  a  mother-in-law  cured  of  a  fever  by  mxiracle  ;  and 
an  apostle  adds  that  he  **  led  about  "  a  sister,  a  wife. 
Had  he  daughters  ?  Artists  explain  some  singular 
pictures  by  repeating  the  romance  of  the  palsied 
Petronilla.  Had  he  any  other  children  ?  Many 
scholars  still  insist  that  Mark,  the  evangelist,  was  his 
offspring,  and  had  the  right  to  be  called  literally 
"  Marcus,  my  son." 

Then  again,  when  we  leave  the  literature  of  legend, 
we  enter  the  weird  realm  of  architecture  ;  and  we  find 
the  walls   everywhere  covered  with  stucco  and  with 


8  •        SIMON    PETER: 

gold;  limned  with  frescoes  and  crusted  with  mosaics; 
forth  from  which  the  rugged  face  of  this  key-bearing 
ecclesiastic  looks  down  upon  the  generations  passing 
beneath. 

In  some  cathedrals,  his  baptism  is  pictured ;  in 
others,  that  strange  meeting  with  Jesus  by  the  river. 
In  stone,  he  is  kneeling  as  he  was  when  near  the  olives 
in  Gethsemane ;  in  bronze,  he  is  reaching  out  his 
finger  like  a  modern  pope ;  on  canvas,  he  is  discovered 
hiding  his  face  from  the  ineffable  radiance,  while  Jesus 
Christ  is  on  the  mountain  transfigured  with  Moses 
and  Elias.  At  one  time,  this  Galilean  fisherman  meets 
us  at  the  first  comxmunion  table  ;  and  then  he  is  sing- 
ing the  hymn  before  they  pass  out.  At  another  time, 
the  same  figure  meets  us  in  the  presence  of  the  maid- 
servants ;  and  now  he  is  swearing  to  his  terrible  denial. 
Then  we  notice  him  outside  the  gate  of  a  palace,  and 
he  is  weeping  bitterly  over  his  folly  in  the  light  of  a 
passover  moon  ;  and  before  we  leave  the  histories  of 
that  period  of  sorrow,  we  meet  him  on  the  shore  of 
Gennesaret,  beside  another  fire  of  coals,  where  Im- 
manuel  is  putting  the  question  which  has  come  down 
the  ages  to  each  one  of  us,  **  Lovest  thou  Me  ?  "  At 
the  last,  in  solemn  shadows  of  life's  evening,  he  ap- 
pears alone,  on  the  cross,  head  downwards,  crucified 
with  his  feet  in  the  air.  ''  Happy  man,"  says  fanciful 
Chrysostom,  ''to  be  set  in  the  readiest  posture  of 
travel  from  earth  into  heaven  !  " 

Thus  constantly  we  recognize  that  face  and  form, 
till  we  begin  to  know  him  from  all  the  myriad  saints 
and   martyrs.      He  really  becomes  so  identified  with 


A    MISUNDERSTOOD    DISCirLE.  9 

Gothic  arches  and  clerestory  windows  in  forests  of 
stone,  that  almost  in  an  elm-grove  men  catch  them- 
selves looking  upwards  for  a  possible  glimpse  of  his 
head  among  the  lines  of  crossing  branches  or  the 
shimmer  of  sunshine  in  the  leaves. 

Still,  it  is  most  likely  that  the  common  people  read 
the  history  of  Simon  Peter  in  the  gospels  rather  for 
its  great  human  features  and  display  of  new  life  in 
Jesus  Christ.  He  is  thoroughly  a  man.  For  good 
or  for  ill  he  is  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  from  beginning  to 
end.  Christ  rebukes  him,  and  Paul  censures  him. 
Yet,  in  personal  characteristics,  Peter  continues  un- 
altered and  unalterable.  He  did  fall  terribly  many 
times ;  but  we  feel  that  he  rose  again  in  such  a  radical 
form  of  penitence  and  contrition  that  he  deserves  in- 
stantly to  have  one  more  chance  ;  and  we  hurry  to 
him  with  a  return  of  regard.  Such  a  man's  battles 
are  our  battles.  The  human  mistakes  he  made  are 
those   that   we   need    to   be   warned   against. 

There  is  no  one  of  all  this  disciple's  failings  that 
is  away  from  our  reach  ;  our  exposures  are  perilously 
like  his.  So  a  quick  sort  of  sympathy  springs  up  be- 
tween us.  Our  sensibilities,  in  certain  moods  of 
self-searching,  actually  welcome  the  guidance  of  his 
experience.  We  are  not  offended  by  the  verses  of 
that  hymn  which  makes  each  of  us  enter  a  like  con- 
fession  whenever  we  sing  it : 


"Jesus,  let  thy  pitying  eye  call  back  a  wandering  sheep  ; 
False  to  thee,  like  Peter,  I  would  fain  like  Peter  weep ! 
Let  me  be  by  grace  restored ;  on  me  be  all  long-suffering  shown  ; 
Turn,  and  look  upon  me,  Lord !  and  break  my  heart  of  stone." 


10  SIMON   PETER: 

Such  a  life  must  be  worth  studying,  with  a  pains- 
taking and  detailed  canvass  of  all  its  particulars.  But 
the  whole  force  of  our  instruction  from  it  will  turn 
upon  the  power  we  have  to  transfer  a  series  of  con- 
flicts and  triumphs  to  our  own  experience.  We  must 
identify  him  with  ourselves  ;  we  must,  therefore,  con- 
strain our  imaginations  to  look  upon  him  as  an  every- 
day man.  Then,  when  we  realize  the  mighty  meaning 
of  his  mission,  we  shall  understand  him. 

It  is  no  purpose  of  the  writer  of  these  pages  to 
IJeny  that  Simon  Peter  received  a  sort  of  headship 
among  the  disciples ;  there  was  a  specmc  work  to 
"which  Jesus  called  him  in  the  establishment  of  the 
visible  church.  By  nature  he  was  a  leader  of  his 
kind.  The  age  he  lived  in  was  one  of  exciting  out- 
look and  eager  expectancy.  His  race  is  historic  for 
its  incarnate  enthusiasm  and  heroic  adventure.  Rightly 
has  the  Jew  been  called  by  Tholuck,  ''  The  Man  of  a 
Future."  Everything  in  Israelitish  annals  used  to 
appear  waiting  for  a  coming  something  to  complete  it. 
Thus  Simon  leaped  into  his  place,  like  an  athlete 
springing  Into  an  arena,  with  a  full  consciousness  of  a 
work  to  be  done,  and  a  hope  to  be  caught  from  it. 
Our  divine  Lord  recognized  the  efficiency  he  wished 
in  this  man,  and  commissioned  him  at  once  for  the 
fashioning  of  an  organic  body  of  believers  on  the  earth 
which  should  live  through  the  ages. 

The  one  turning-point  of  Simon  Peter's  biography, 
on  the  instant  of  which  all  the  rest  hinges,  is  that  at 
which  we  first  meet  his  face,  when  Andrew,  his  brother, 
brings  him  to  Jesus.     Patriotic  aspiration,    personal 


A    MISUNDERSTOOD    DISCIPLE.  II 

enthusiasm,  religious  traditions  of  a  matchless  past, 
all  find  their  fulfilment.  The  disclosure  of  the  Mes- 
siah in  Jesus  pervades  the  entire  being  of  this  Gal- 
ilean fisherman ;  It  sways  his  religion  from  Judaism 
to  Christianity ;  it  fixes  his  future  career,  and  governs 
his  life. 

It  must  be  this  alone  which  explains  the  conduct 
of  our  Lord  when  he  chose  such  a  man  for  so  exalted 
a  place,  with  so  slight  a  preparation.  Looking  down 
through  even  the  next  three  years — time  of  mighty 
meaning  and  vast  import  to  the  world — surely  he 
foresav/,  in  divine  wisdom,  how  flexible  Peter's  faith 
was  to  be;  how  scandalously  unsteady  his  course 
would,  for  a  while,  prove.  He  understood,  even  while 
Andrew  stood  there,  introducing  this  strange  brother, 
that  the  near  future  would  disclose  all  manner  of  weak- 
ness in  him.  Simon  was  really  going  to  be  no  Cephas 
at  all  for  many  a  long  day ;  there  was,  at  the  present 
moment,  nothing  of  the  rock  in  him  but  its  roughness 
— except,  perhaps,  its  capability  of  hardening  under 
exposures  of  extraordinary,  but  salutary  discipline. 

Can  we  doubt,  moreover,  that  Jesus  perceived  in 
the  distance  the  great  shadow  of  the  denial,  and  all 
the  attendant  gloom  of  defection  in  the  early  church  ? 
]Nl"Q^oubt,  also,  he  foresaw  the  perverse  dissimulation 
at  Antioch.  of  which  Peter  would  be  so  notoriously 
guilty  that  even  Paul  would  withstand  him  to  the 
face  as  one  to  be  blamed.  We  may  imagine  that 
Jesus  knew  all  the  miserable  folly  which  would  follow 
the  bestowal  of  that  new  name  he  was  giving  to  this 
son  of  Jonas ;  how  a  hierarchy  of  self-seekers  would 


12  SIMON    PETER: 

take  it  up,  and  fashion  out  of  it  a  figment  of  popish 
successions ;  how  primacy  and  prelacy  would  stub- 
bornly contend  over  a  narrow  difference  between  the 
genders  oi pctros  3.n6.  pctra,  all  along  down  the  lonely 
ages. 

Yet  our  Lord  Jesus  did  choose  and  call  to  himself 
this  man ;  advanced  him  to  a  position  of  authority, 
and  laid  on  him  his  supreme  charge.  From  all  which 
it  must  seem  clear  to  us  in  these  days,  that,  while  he 
is  to  be  accepted  as  available,  he  cannot  be  pro- 
nounced altogether  infallible ;  he  may  serve  well  as 
an  organizer,  but  he  makes  poor  show  as  a  pope. 

It  is  evident  that  we  shall  never  understand  this  sin- 
gular disciple  until  we  ascertain  the  purpose  for  which 
the  providence  of  God  selected  him.  We  say  that 
helpful  men  must  carefully  be  looked  up.  In  the 
classic  story  Diogenes  had  melancholy  work  at  that 
task.  The  Scripture  expression  is  ''raised  up."  We 
are  told  that  the  Lord  ''  raised  up  "  Othniel ;  he  *'  raised 
up  "  Moses ;  he  ''raised  up"  David ;  it  is  even  said  that 
he  "raised  up"  Pharaoh.  Hence,  the  disclosure  is 
beyond  any  contradiction,  as  a  settled  principle  in  the 
divine  government :  God  is  wont  to  leave  nothing 
to  accident.  There  never  is  any  good  for  any  age  in 
waiting  for  the  coming  man  to  arrive.  When  the 
Lord  is  ready  for  his  presence,  he  will  summon  him 
to  the  lead.  And  so  far  in  the  annals  of  the  human 
race,  in  every  great  exigency  of  history,  the  coming 
man  was,  after  all  the  searching,  found  to  have  been 
on  the  ground  the  whole  time,  only  nobody  knew  it. 

God's  choice  is  all  that  can    be  needed  to  render 


A    MISUNDERSTOOD    DISCIPLE.  I3 

the  most  unremarkable  individual  instantly  eminent. 
Divine  wisdom  deliberately  selected  these  humble 
but  trustworthy  witnesses  of  the  Messiah's  mission  and 
work,  and,  in  their  mature  middle  life,  hurried  them 
startlingly  out  into  public  notice.  They  were  actually 
"raised  up."  The  Evangelists  count  them  as  in  no 
wise  worthy  of  their  pens  until  they  have  gained  the 
dignity  of  a  recognition  from  Immanucl,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  But  the  instant  they  became  his  fol- 
lowers, the  swift  record  began  to  trace  the  particulars 
of  their  speech  and  action.  As  they  held  up  the 
torch  of  truth  through  the  prominent  years  of  their 
evangelical  service,  and  waved  it  widely,  so  that  all 
darkened  men  should  see  the  face  of  Jesus,  they  could 
not  help  but  that  their  own  countenances  should  be 
unconsciously  brilliant  with  the  very  light  which  their 
fidelity  and  enthusiasm  flashed  around  him. 

Thus,  then,  we  conclude  that  the  only  key  of  ex- 
planation which  will  fit  the  wards  of  such  a  historic 
mystery  as  that  represented  in  the  career  of  Simon 
Peter — to  some  a  mere  fisherman,  and  to  others  a 
mere  prelate — is  found  in  the  call  God  gave  him,  the 
times  he  lived  in,  and  the  special  work  that  he  was 
raised  up  to  do.  This  disciple  will  always  be  misun- 
derstood, and  will  never  be  registered  for  what  he 
really  was,  until  his  biography  is  patiently  and  affec- 
tionately studied  as  a  harmonious  whole.  ''  Blessed 
is  the  man  whom  thou  choosest,  and  causest  to  ap- 
proach unto  thee."  And  the  man  whom  Christ  chose 
for  his  disciple  will  be  estimated  wisely  and  fairly  only 
when  the  result  of  the  choice  is  made  known. 


CHAPTER  11. 

SIMON'S   PARENTAGE    AND    HOME. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  around 
which  Httle  Inland  sheet  of  water  are  gathered  so  many 
interesting  and  instructive  memories,  once  stood  a 
quiet  village  called  Bethsaida,  which  name  in  the 
Syriac  dialect  signified  *'  Fishing  town."  Close  down 
upon  the  beach,  it  must  have  been  situated  at  no  great 
distance,  in  a  straight  line,  from  Capernaum,  some- 
where about  the  middle  of  the  angular  bend  bounding 
the  northwestern  shore.  This  was  a  different  place 
from  that  beside  which  our  Lord  performed  the  mira- 
cle of  feeding  the  five  thousand,  though  bearing  the 
same  designation.  Of  this  last,  the  town  where  the 
famous  wonder  was  wrought,  even  now  there  remain 
some  few  lonely  fragments  of  ruins.  But  of  that 
Bethsaida  in  which  Jesus  Christ  found  his  "  Man,"  no 
vestiges  at  all  can  be  discovered.  It  is  mentioned 
in  the  Scripture  narrative  as  ''  Bethsaida  of  Galilee," 
most  likely  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other,  to  which 
in  subsequent  years  was  given  the  name  of  '*  Julias" 
when  Philip  the  Tetrarch  rebuilt  it  and  re-adorned  It 
for  his  official  residence.  Both  are  gone,  but  the 
poorest  vanished  first.  And  in  calm  unconsciousness 
of  its  secret,  the  small  sea  shines  on  and  tells  the  trav- 
eler no  tales  of  its  former  years ;  it  was  there  before 
the  villages  arose,  and  it  remains  there  now  alone. 

It  is  possible  for  a  spot,  therefore,  to  slip  off  from 
a  map,  and  yet  cling  tenaciously  in  history.     For  the 


ins    TAKENTAGE    AND    HOME.  1 5 

remembrance  of  this  little,  lost  town  is  imperisha- 
ble, from  the  fact  that  here,  within  Its  narrow  pre- 
cincts, were  reared  five  of  the  twelve  men  whom  our 
Lord  raised  up  to  be  his  chosen  disciples,  and  com- 
missioned as  his  successors  in  establishing  the  New 
Testament  church.  These  five  were  Simon  Peter  and 
Andrew,  James,  John,  and  Philip. 

The  early  name  by  which  Peter  was  known  was 
Simon  or  Simeon,  and  his  father's  name  was  Jonas  or 
John.  The  affix  which  we  sometimes  find  in  the 
Gospels,  Simon  Bar-Jona,  comes  from  this.  Bar- 
Jona  means  Son  of  Jonas  or  John,  just  as  Bartimeus 
means  Son  of  Timaeus.  This  was  one  of  the  ordinary 
ways  of  distinguishing  any  individual  in  those  times. 
When  there  might  happen  to  be  two  bearing  a  like 
name  the  name  of  his  father  was  joined  to  his  own. 
Andrew,  who  was  the  brother  of  Simon,  was  of  course 
a  Bar-Jona  too,  John's  son,  as  we  phrase  it.  And 
that  must  be  Avhat  Dr.  Hamilton  is  to  be  understood 
as  saying,  when  he  casually  mentions  these  two  fish- 
ermen of  Bethsaida  as  ''  the  two  celebrated  Johnsons 
of  Fishing- town." 

Both  of  these  men,  Andrew  and  Simon  Peter,  be- 
come measurably  conspicuous  at  last,  but  in  the 
beginning  of  their  career  they  advance  abruptly  into 
the  inspired  story,  unheralded,  undescribed  in  appear- 
ance, unknown  as  to  antecedents.  We  meet  them 
quite  in  the  maturity  of  life ;  of  their  youthful  biog- 
raphy there  is  told  us  almost  nothing.  There  was 
nobody  to  keep  the  simple  annals  of  that  obscure 
hamlet,  if  indeed  it  had  ever  happened  to   have  any. 


1 6  SIMON    PETER; 

These  villagers  present  themselves  first  far  away  from 
their  home.  Simon  has  no  more  extensive  intro- 
duction than  his  brother  can  give  him ;  and  it  chances 
in  this  case  that  we  are  less  acquainted  with  Andrew, 
whom  we  conjecture  to  be  the  elder  of  the  two,  than 
with  the  younger.  The  fact  is,  they  both  ov/e  the 
celebrity  they  attained  to  the  extraordinary  com- 
pany they  afterwards  fell  into,  and  the  illustrious 
companionship  they  shared  with  the  world's  Redeem- 
er. They  are  luminous  because  they  are  lit.  It  is 
most  fitting,  therefore,  that  each  of  them  in  turn 
should  come  before  our  eyes  standing  in  the  full  light 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  he  enters  upon  his  public  ministry. 

It  is  not  possible  that  a  biographer  of  such  a  man 
as  Simon  Peter  should  proceed  in  the  ordinary  way 
and  relate  the  signs  of  early  genius  he  displayed,  or 
gather  together  floating  traditions  of  the  neighborhood 
to  show  his  precocity  or  his  undeveloped  gifts. 
Whatever  can  be  told  has  found  its  way  into  one  or 
another  of  the  evangelical  histories,  and  will  event- 
ually find  its  place  in  our  recitals.  But  what  is  more 
to  our  immediate  purpose  is  the  fact  that  whatever  he 
came  to  be  ultimately  grew  out  of  the  design  for 
which  he  was  ''raised  up." 

*'  I  have  created  seven  seas,  saith  the  Lord,  but  out 
of  them  all  I  have  chosen  none  but  the  Sea  of  Gen- 
nesaret":  so  the  admiring  rabbins  tell  us  in  the 
Talmud.  Yet  most  travelers  now  would  omit  pan- 
egyrics of  poetical  description,  and  confine  their 
thoughts  to  the  wondrously  noble  associations  of  the 
scenes  around.       For  in  no   respect  could  that  rather 


HIS    TARENTAGE    AXD    HOME.  1/ 

dull  sheet  of  water  be  compared  favorably  with  Lago 
di  Como,  with  Loch  Katrine,  or  with  Lake  George. 

Perhaps  a  tamer  impression  is  made  because  of  the 
absence  of  the  ancient  population,  on  the  one  hand, 
or  of  the  want  of  sylvan  solitudes  on  the  other.  For 
the  suggestion  at  the  present  time  is  neither  that  of 
rural  picturesqueness  nor  of  artificial  beauty.  An 
air  of  desolation  and  barrenness  is  over  all  the  land- 
scape. An  uneasy  sense  of  pensiveness  bars  the 
enjoyment  which  one  might  possibly  feel  elsewhere ; 
for  the  remembrance  of  a  vanished  past  keeps  rising, 
the  vision  of  a  lost  opportunity  and  a  violent  retribu- 
tion. 

Some  quiet  shadows  lie  along  the  ridges  of  rock, 
but  no  huge  or  daring  precipices  break  their  lines. 
We  discern  no  colossal  or  pinnacled  mountains  nearer 
than  Lebanon.  There  are  no  solemnities  of  caverns 
or  glooms  of  ravines  in  the  uninteresting  shores.  The 
verdureless  hills  are  sterile,  but  their  bleaknesses  are 
not  extensive  enough  to  be  grand ;  they  are  steep, 
but  they  could  not  be  considered  massive.  And 
with  all  the  brightness  of  this  lake,  at  its  loveliest  sea- 
son, many  tourists  find  them.selves  the  rather  surprised 
than  pleased.  Something  is  lacking.  The  cities  are 
needed  for  a  sort  of  answer  to  an  inarticulate  ques- 
tion. Nine  towns  used  to  li-ght  up  these  shores  with  a 
human  presence  of  thrift.  Then  there  were  villas  and 
palaces,  baths  and  theaters,  standing  for  coolness  so 
close  down  upon  the  beach  that  their  white  walls 
shone  reflected  in  the  water.  Contrasted  with  the 
wild  and  melancholy  grandeur  of  Southern  Palestine, 


1 8  SIMON   peter: 

this  scenery  here  at  the  north  is  full  of  an  exhilara- 
ting cheer  of  sweet  sunshine.  If  that  be  fitly  called 
the  Dead  Sea,  this  is  certainly  the  Life  Sea — only  the 
life  is  gone. 

The  dimensions  of  Lake  Gennesaret  are  insignifi- 
cant. It  is  only  about  six  miles  wide  where  the  water 
is  broadest,  and  not  far  from  thirteen  miles  long. 
And  so  pure  and  clear  is  the  summer  atmosphere 
around  it  that  it  appears  much  smaller  than  it  really 
is.  To  a  scant  strip  of  territory  close  by  the  northern 
bend,  at  which  the  Jordan  flows  in,  perhaps  four 
miles  by  three  in  extent,  was  attached  the  name  of  the 
"Land  of  Gennesaret."  Into  this  area  in  ancient 
times  was  crowded  the  lazy  and  luxurious  life  of  the 
dissolute  nobles  of  degenerate  Israel.  For,  during 
the  years  while  Simon  Peter  was  a  boy,  much  of  the 
fashion  of  Herod's  iniquitous  court  found  here  its 
worst  resort. 

Whether  this  lake  took  its  name  from  the  shore, 
or  the  shore  from  the  lake,  is  not  certain.  The  word 
is  said  to  mean  **a  harp" — perhaps  in  allusion  to  the 
figure  of  the  sheet  of  water.  Some  declare  that  it 
comes  from  two  other  words  signifying  ''Valley  of 
Flowers:"  and  then  it  has  been  rendered  also,  'The 
Gardens  of  the  Chief"  Very  appropriate  this  last 
designation  :  for  the  historic  day  has  been  when  that 
exquisite  plain  covered  with  its  rich  verdure,  shad- 
owed with  towering  palms  and  waving  oleanders, 
variegated  with  vines  and  pomegranates,  with  groves 
of  oranges  and  copses  of  tamarisks  here  and  there, 
vocal   in   each  early   morning  with  the    songs   of  a 


Ills    PARENTAGE    AND    HOME.  19 

myriad  of  brilliant  birds — was  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful paradises  of  the  princes  of  Naphtali.  The  fertility 
of  this  strip  of  soil,  lying  near  the  junction  of  the 
Jordan  with  the  lake,  rendered  it  unusually  prolific  of  all 
sorts  of  agricultural  products;  and  the  depression  of 
the  valley,  so  characteristic  clear  down  to  its  vast 
depth  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jericho,  offered  an 
almost  tropical  climate  for  some  fruits,  flowers,  and 
grains  that  the  uplands  did  not  furnish.  Then,  too, 
the  lake  was  stocked  with  fish  from  time  immemorial, 
as  it  is  now,  especially  where  the  river  makes  its 
rich  deposits  from  the  country  above.  That  in  so 
close  a  proximity  two  Bethsaidas  should  have  existed, 
the  very  name  of  which — **Fishing-town" — indicates 
the  staple  of  their  trade  and  industry,  shows  the  source 
of  prosperity  and  importance  of  the  occupation  pur- 
sued by  Jonas  and  Zebedee. 

Nor,  if  the  accounts  of  those  early  times  are  to  be 
trusted,  was  the  commerce  of  this  part  of  Galilee 
to  be  despised.  Damascus  and  Babylon,  each  a 
large  metropolis  of  luxury,  poured  forth  their  wares 
into  a  series  of  bazaars  all  along  the  shores  of  the  Sea 
of  Tiberias.  On  the  western  side  were  hot  springs  for 
bathing ;  and  these  added  not  a  little  to  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  vicinity,  to  the  crowds  of  people  who 
came  swarming  in  the  autumn  months  to  this  inland 
seashore  on  their  way  into  Italy. 

The  moment  we  conceive  of  these  slopes  on  every 
quarter  as  covered  with  towns,  and  populous  with 
country  residences — and  then  picture  the  hundreds  of 
hardy  seamen  gliding  at  all  hours  of  the  day  or  night 


20  SIMON    PETER: 

out  or  in,  going  or  returning — the  yards  for  building 
the  boats  ringing  with  the  sounds  of  the  mallets — the 
barges  of  pleasure  furling  their  white  canvas,  scudding 
before  the  refreshing  winds  from  the  hills  toward 
Lebanon,  gay  with  the  garments  of  the  proud  parties 
of  fashion  and  nobility  they  were  wont  to  carry — the 
walks  alongside  bright  with  a  profusion  of  beautiful 
chariots  drawn  by  horses  from  Arabia  in  caparisons 
of  silver  and  gold — the  paths  near  the  water  glittering 
with  a  score  of  markets  where  the  fabrics  of  the  far 
Orient  vied  with  the  coarser  but  (to  the  quiet  towns- 
men) the  more  attractive  show,  a  confused  mingling 
of  nets  and  sails  and  tackling,  with  shawls  and  silks 
upon  the  same  counter  competing  for  purchasers 
among  the  rich  and  the  poor — the  entire  circle  of  the 
lake  excited  with  life — then  we  begin  to  understand 
that  we  have  assuredly  been  much  mistaken  hither- 
to, if  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  supposing  that  the 
disciples  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  were  brought 
up  in  an  out-of-the-way  neighborhood,  away  from 
the  world,  in  the  ignorance  and  seclusion  of  the  small 
hamlet  where  they  learned  only  to  handle  fishing- 
nets  and  wield  oars.  They  were  the  lower  class  of 
inhabitants,  it  is  true  ;  it  is  likely  that  the  aristocratic 
people  had  only  a  supercilious  notion  of  them — as 
visitors  at  modern  watering-places  now  have  of  those 
Avho  work  to  supply  their  tables.  But  it  would  be  far 
from  right  to  suppose  they  lived  in  seclusion  and  still- 
ness. 

Right  within  sight  was  Capernaum — of  which  indeed 
Bcthsaida    was    almost    a  suburb.  The    little  town  of 


HIS    PARENTAGE    AND    HOME.  2  1 

El-Tabljah,  that  still  lingers  to  mark  the  spot  where 
Simon's  early  home  was  located,  has  yet  the  foun- 
tains and  the  indolent  mill-wheels  working  near  the 
beach,  very  much  as  the  fisher-boy  must  have  heard 
them  groaning  and  splashing  when  they  (or  their  an- 
cestor-wheels like  them)  drove  the  force  for  the  tan- 
neries and  potteries  that  supplied  the  simple  wants 
of  those  who  lived  their  lives  there. 

On  the  same  western  side,  only  a  short  distance 
further,  was  Tiberias ;  and  he  who  had  seen  Tiberias, 
as  it  was  then,  had  an  inspiring  notion  of  what 
the  vast  world  must  be.  Simon  would  have  visited 
the  place  a  hundred  times.  It  stood  hardly  more 
than  five  or  six  miles  from  his  common  fishing-ground  ; 
he  could  see  the  glimmer  of  the  gilded  roof  with 
which  Herod  had  covered  his  palace,  every  morning 
when  he  came  in  from  his  toil  and  the  sun  climbed 
over  the  slight  hills  of  Gadara.  No  matter  into  what 
market  these  fishermen  went  to  sell  their  spoils,  they 
met  that  great  rushing  world  face  to  face  which 
Christianity  was  to  contend  with  and  subdue. 

The  Roman  race  had  interjected  themselves  and 
their  manners  into  Palestine,  and  especially  into  Galilee. 
The  Jews  kept  the  eminent  lead  as  yet.  They  held 
the  land ;  they  cultivated  the  olive-trees  and  trained 
the  vines;  they  controlled  the  arts  of  industry.  But 
the  country  was  crowded  with  immigrants,  and 
crossed  with  caravans.  Foreigners  kept  coming 
from  India  and  Persia,  wearing  curious  dresses  and 
having  beautiful  embroideries  to  sell.  Light-clad, 
turban-crowned     merchants    appeared     every\\'here, 


22  SIMON    peter: 

offering  spices  from  far  Arabia,  with  unguents  in 
alabaster  boxes,  and  cosmetics  for  ladies'  toilets. 
There  were  to  be  found  constantly  Alexandrians  and 
a  motley  crowd  of  Greeks.  All  the  world  urged  its 
way  into  this  open  province,  from  which  the  imperial 
power  had  forced  fabulous  tribute  of  wealth.  Pales- 
tine became  a  sort  of  gathering-place  for  an  indes- 
cribable horde  of  people  whose  principles  were  easy, 
whose  errands  were  gain,  and  whose  motive  was 
anything  for  an  adventure. 

The  Italian  conquerors  brought  mixed  customs 
along;  they  did  not  leave  behind  them  so  much  as 
their  vices.  They  had  their  gladiatorial  shows,  their 
chariot- races,  their  slaves  and  their  pimps.  In  com- 
mon with  all  the  rest  of  the  Gentile  world,  they 
spoke  their  own  language,  wore  their  own  fashions 
of  clothing,  set  up  the  temples  of  their  own  gods. 
The  new  edifices  they  erected  for  worship  and  for 
games  brought  likewise  to  the  shores  of  the  lake 
ot  Gennesaret  a  fresh  increase  of  barbarian  inhabi- 
tants; for  the  fiat  went  forth  from  the  omnipotent 
fashion  of  the  day  that  nobody  could  venture  to 
build  a  hippodrome,  a  bath,  or  a  shrine,  except  an 
artist  from  Athens  drew  the  model,  and  cunning 
workmen  from  Macedonia  finished  the  adornments 
in  bronze  and  silver  and  gold. 

So  the  streets  in  all  the  towns  were  filled  with 
people  from  every  name  and  nation.  And  among  them 
always  roamed  the  wild  sons  of  Ishmael,  the  Bedouin 
children  of  the  desert,  coming  when  the  ripened  har- 
vests  gave   them   invitation    to   steal,  pasturing  their 


HIS    PARENTAGE    AND    HOME.  23 

slow  herds  where  the  grain  stood  the  tallest,  pitching 
their  tents  upon  any  man's  acres  as  if  they  were 
lords  of  the  soil,  owning  fealty  alone  to  the  strongest 
sword  that  chastised  them,  obeying  neither  a  Jewish 
mandate  nor  a  Roman,  and  gliding  out  of  reach  with 
a  signal  quicker  than  a  shadow,  leaving  desolation 
wilder  than  a  scourge. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say,  therefore,  that  those  five 
fishermen,  whom  our  Lord  chose  for  his  apostles 
among  the  rest,  were  a  poor,  Illiterate  set  of  people, 
without  knowledge  of  the  world ;  for  indeed  they  had 
a  chance  to  learn  much  of  it,  though  they  were 
forty  years  in  Galilee  only.  This  boy  Simon  with 
his  brother  Andrew,  as  well  as  John  with  his  brother 
James,  may  have  been  from  what  we  call  a  low  rank 
in  society,  but  not  from  the  lowest.  There  appears 
to  have  been  some  measure  of  consideration  and 
wealth  belonging  to  both  families,  first  and  last. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BOYHOOD    IN    GENNESARET. 

That  period  of  life  through  which  human  beings 
pass  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty  is  generally- 
understood  as  fixing  the  character  of  much  of  that 
which  remains.  We  are  forced  to  trace  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  the  Apostle  of  the  Circumcision  influences 
of  his  early  training  that  in  the  time  of  it  must  have 
been  altogether  unappreciated  by  himself  We 
must  endeavor  therefore  to  form  full  acquaintance 
with  the  real  surroundings  of  his  childhood.  His 
home,  insignificant  as  it  was,  was  situated  precisely 
where  the  hurry  and  bustle  of  Galilean  life  were  at 
their  highest;  and  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  his 
parents  had  some  severe  struggles  with  a  nature  so 
imaginative  and  impulsive,  before  they  brought  it 
always  into  calm  obedience. 

Young  Simon,  rough  fisher-boy  that  he  was,  grew 
familiar  with  every  scene  around  the  northern  end 
of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  He  found  an  easy  market 
for  all  his  daily  gains  from  the  night-fishing.  Those 
fashionable  people  may  have  learned  to  know  the 
spirited  lad,  who  came  up  regularly  with  his  boat,  and 
in  an  amiable  sort  of  vanity  beached  it  with  a  flourish 
of  skill  at  the  entrance  of  their  villas,  while  his  father 
Jonas  brought  out  the  shining  mullet  for  their  luxu- 
rious food — this  boy  with  the  keen  eyes  looking  out 
from  under  his  small  white  cap,  his  olive-colored 
arms  thrust  forth  from  the  brown -striped  loose  coat, 


BOYHOOD    IN    GENNESARET.  25 

SO  that  he  might  lay  hold  of  the  oars  or  drop  the 
sail  suddenly  at  the  word  of  command.  There  must 
have  been  a  kind  of  half- swagger  in  his  manner  even 
then,  for  this  good  creature  always  kept  a  self-con- 
sciousness, no  matter  what  motions  he  made. 

It  is  only  by  considering  Simon  son  of  Jonas  as 
subject  to  the  same  regimen  as  other  Jewish  lads  of 
the  period,  that  we  arrive  at  any  conclusion  concern- 
ing his  actual  life  during  his  youth.  The  age  of 
twelve  years  was  one  of  singular  importance  to  all 
boys  in  that  methodical  nation.  The  Jewish  annals 
assert  that  this  was  the  time  when  Solomon  made 
the  extraordinary  choice  of  wisdom  that  placed  him 
at  the  head  of  the  learned — when  Samuel  was  called 
pubHcly  forward  by  the  voice  of  Jehovah  at  Shiloh 
— when  Moses  threw  in  his  lot  with  the  people  of 
God,  and  forsook  the  home  offered  to  him  by  Pha- 
raoh's daughter — a  time  always  to  be  observed. 

At  this  age,  so  we  learn  from  the  Rabbins,  any 
son  of  devout  parents  ought  to  be,  and  generally 
was,  apprenticed  to  some  occupation  which  would 
bring  him  respectable  support.  The  solemn  injunc- 
tion was,  *'He  that  does  not  teach  his  child  a  trade 
brings  him  up  to  be  a  thief "  These  lads  became 
now,  also,  "sons  of  the  law, "  and  were  obliged  to 
observe  the  fasts  and  keep  the  feasts  of  their  nation. 
About  this  time,  too,  they  began  to  wear  the  small 
phylacteries  on  their  foreheads — strips  of  parchment 
Vv'ith  sentences  lettered  upon  them  from  the  precepts 
of  Moses.  They  were  now  treated  with  a  sort  of 
consideration,   as   if  they  were   little  men. 


26  SIMON  teter: 

As  a  reason  for  this,  we  are  told  by  one  of  the 
Hebrew  sages  that,  until  he  reached  twelve  years  of 
age,  no  young  lad  possessed  anything  more  than  a 
mere  inspiration  of  animal  life.  But  at  that  period, 
or  thereabouts,  he  received  an  intelligent  spirit,  which, 
if  he  lived  virtuously  afterward,  would  at  twenty  years 
old  be  certain  to  develop  into  the  reasonable  soul 
of  a  man ! 

There  were  in  those  days  schools  in  connection 
with  each  synagogue.  Perhaps  Bethsaida  was  not  a 
town  large  enough  for  either ;  but  if  so,  Capernaum 
was  close  at  hand.  The  Hebrews  made  great  account 
of  education  in  the  Scriptures.  And  we  must  remem- 
ber that  a  fair  amount  of  learning  was  received  when 
a  child  had  committed  an  ordinary  Book  of  Moses 
to  heart.  For  the  Scriptures  were  their  annals  of 
history,  their  theology,  their  legislation,  their  moral 
enactments,  and  their  literature,  all  things  in  one. 
We  conceive  of  those  quiet  families  in  Gennesaret 
very  favorably  in  this  respect.  Simon's  father  Jonas 
and  his  mother — of  whom  we  know  only  a  tradition 
that  her  name  was  Johanna — together  with  John's 
parents  Zebedee  and  Salome,  no  doubt  were  devout 
and  godly  people.  When  they  sang  the  ancient 
Psalms,  they  doubtless  sought  to  obey  the  admo- 
nitions implied  in  them.  They  passed  along  the 
truths  they  received,  * 'showing  to  the  generation  to 
come  the  praises  of  the  Lord,  and  his  strength,  and 
his  wonderful  works  that  he  hath  done.  For  he  estab- 
lished a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law  in 
Israel,  which  he  commanded   our  fathers,   that    they 


BOYHOOD    IN    GENNESARET.  2/ 

should  make  them  known  to  their  children  :  that  the 
generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even  the  chil- 
dren which  should  be  born  :  who  should  arise  and  de- 
clare them  to  their  children :  that  they  might  set 
their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God, 
but  keep  his  commandments." 

To  one  who  has  visited  the  modern  schools  in 
the  East,  there  will  be  needed  now  no  suggestion  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  this  Simon  son  of  Jonas  was 
kept  at  work  in  his  boyhood.  According  to 
Israelitish  custom  and  rule,  a  lad  should  study  the 
Bible  at  the  age  of  five,  though  he  might  not  attend 
public  school  till  he  was  six  ;  at  ten  years  old,  he 
might  take  up  the  Mishna ;  and  at  fifteen,  he  ought 
to  begin  on  the  Talmud.  From  twenty  to  forty 
pupils  are  committed  to  one  master.  They  all  oc- 
cupy a  single  room,  sitting  upon  mats  around 
against  the  walls,  and  facing  the  teacher.  The 
method  of  instruction  is  oral,  but  boys  are  allowed 
to  have  tablets  somewhat  like  slates,  upon  which 
they  write  the  lessons  with  chalk  pencils  to  assist 
their  memory.  The  main  work  is  done  in  concert. 
A  sentence  is  read  by  the  pedagogue;  and  then  the 
scholars  say  it  over  after  him — all  together  with  a 
shout — and  they  usually  accompany  the  vocifera- 
tion with  an  awkward  rocking  backwards  and  for- 
wards of  their  bodies  on  their  heels,  beating  time  to 
the  iterations. 

The  Jews  always  were  very  particular  about  these 
educational  matters.  When  Josephus  argued  against 
Apion,  he  said   truly,   **Our  principal  care   of  all  is 


28  SIMON  peter: 

to  educate  our  children."  Even  the  Talmud  laid  it 
down  as  one  of  its  wisest  precepts,  ''the  world  is  pre- 
served by  the  breath  of  the  children  in  the  schools." 

So  long  have  we  been  accustomed  to  attach  a 
semi-mythical  existence  and  character  to  the  actual 
men  and  women  and  children  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
that  it  may  not  be  easy  at  first  to  recognize  the  picture 
of  Jonas*  son  in  a  scene  like  this.  But  in  all  proba- 
bility Simon's  lot  was  similar  to  that  of  others  then — a 
lot  much  the  same  as  that  of  fisher-boys  in  Galilee 
now,  as  it  may  be  watched  any  time  in  the  town  of 
Tiberias.  He  lived  just  as  little  boys  live  every- 
where in  the  East,  a  sort  of  vagabond  and  untidy  life 
until  they  reach  an  age  which  fits  them  for  service- 
ableness  in  doors  or  out;  then  usually  something  is 
found  for  all  human  beings  to  do. 

A  very  commonplace  sentiment  often  becomes 
dignified  when  ingeniously  wrought  into  verse :  so 
Wordsworth  has  been  credited  with  originality  in  the 
saying  that  "the  child  is  father  of  the  man."  Judging 
from  his  manifestations  afterwards,  this  young  Simon 
must  have  been  a  fidgety,  restless  scholar  at  his  tasks, 
perhaps  insubordinate  on  occasion;  a  daring  boy 
and  combative;  frequently  impetuous  and  head- 
strong ;  brave,  when  only  rocks  and  waves  and  squalls 
of  wind  beset  him ;  pusillanimous,  when  the  threats 
of  a  bigger  lad  frightened  him  ;  curiously  inquisitive 
in  watching  interesting  foreigners,  and  never  bashful 
in  questions  when  he  wanted  to  know. 

But  just  as  he  passed  from  ten  to  twelve  years  of 
age,  there  happened  a  series  of  events  which  must 


BOYHOOD   IN    GENNESARET.  29 

have  made  some  impression  over  all  Palestine,  and 
which  certainly  controlled  his  whole  career. 

For  then  it  was  reported  widely  among  the  vil- 
lages that  down  in  Bethlehem  some  shepherds  tending 
their  flocks  out  upon  the  hillside  in  the  night  had 
heard  a  wonderful  song  from  a  choir  of  angel  voices 
overhead,  announcing  that  the  Messiah — so  long 
and  passionately  waited  for — so  anxiously  expected  at 
any  moment  to  arrive — had  come  indeed.  The  Babe 
was  actually  born  who  was  to  become  manifest  as 
the  Everlasting  Father  and  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Two  things  acted  together,  in  all  likelihood,  to  ren- 
der the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  of  far  less  account  than 
it  deserved  to  have  in  the  estimation  of  people  who 
resided  in  Northern  Galilee  at  the  time.  They  were 
under  the  impression  that  w^ien  the  Messiah  really 
did  appear  it  would  be  in  such  a  way  as  that  the 
leaders  of  the  nation  would  recognize  and  announce 
him  immediately.  Then  the  whole  waiting  world 
would  hasten  to  his  feet.  Now,  in  the  case  of  this 
Jesus — although  everybody  admitted  that  singular 
stories  had  been  reported,  and  some  believed  that 
the  angelic  songs  had  in  fact  been  heard,  and  ori- 
ental sages  had  rendered  their  homage  and  delivered 
their  gifts — yet  none  of  the  Jewish  rulers  believed 
on  him. 

Then,  also,  by  reason  of  the  violence  of  Herod, 
the  child  already  was  out  of  sight.  He  had  dis- 
appeared with  his  parents  in  Egypt.  All  trace  of 
him  was  lost.  But  the  conduct  of  the  king  adver- 
tised the  matter   more  than    anything  else.      He  was 

i 


30  SIMON    PETER  : 

determined  to  lay  his  hands  on  the  babe,  and  put  an  end 
to  all  peril  from  it,  by  his  usual  methods  of  deliver- 
ance from  what  alarmed  or  vexed  him  in  the  kingdom. 
He  evidently  imagined  that  those  Magi,  who  came 
making  inquiry,  would  be  successful  in  finding  the 
infant  ;  and  he  appears  to  have  pledged  them  to  let 
him  know  its  whereabouts.  But  a  divine  suggestion 
in  a  dream  sent  them  away  in  another  direction. 

''  Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  mocked 
of  the  wise  men,  was  exceeding  wroth,  and  sent  forth, 
and  slew  all  the  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem, 
and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and 
under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently 
inquired  of  the  wise  men." 

Such  news  might  not  of  itself  have  aroused  the 
interest  of  a  young  lad  like  Simon,  who  could  hardly 
comprehend  its  vast  meaning  as  yet.  But  accompa- 
nied by  the  awful  tidings  of  extensive  murders  among 
innocent  children,  the  story  would  make  all  Palestine 
recoil  with  a  shudder.  The  tidings  traveled  with  gath- 
ering exaggerations  through  Samaria  into  Galilee, 
until  most  likely  when  the  report  of  the  king's  crime 
reached  so  excitable  a  center  as  Bethsaida  it  was 
magnified  to  a  general  massacre  of  extermination.  A 
great  wail  of  grief  and  consternation  ran  sounding 
through  the  entire  country. 

"  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by 
Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying,  in  Rama  was  there  a 
voice  heard,  lamentation,  and  weeping,  and  great 
mourning,  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and 
would  not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not." 


BOYHOOD   IN   GENNESARET.  31 

Before  long,  however,  the  agitation  subsided.  For 
ere  long,  amid  many  confusions,  Joseph  and  Mary 
quietly  came  home  from  Egypt  across  the  desert 
sands,  withdrawing  to  Nazareth  with  the  Child  of 
promise  and  hope.     So  mysterious  time  glided  on. 

Nobody  noticed  that  now  a  new  era  had  begun. 
A  hitherto  unknown  reckoning  had  come  to  draw  its 
line  across  history.  Somehow  a  mistake  of  four 
years  was  dropped  at  the  start ;  but  the  clock  of  the 
ages  just  then  unperceivedly  struck  ANNO 
DOMINI  I. 

It  can  be  understood  that  any  one  who  is  watching 
a  sunrise  will  be  less  likely  to  be  found  looking 
around  upon  the  landscapes  disclosed  by  it.  Indeed, 
outlines  would  look  dim  and  shadowy,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  some  objects  might  appear  distorted.  One 
who  set  himself  about  reducing  to  history  the  events 
of  that  first  morning  hour,  would  surely  give  most 
of  his  record  to  the  glimmerings  of  the  light  and 
the  flash  of  beautiful  colors.  The  busy  hum  of 
awakening  life  would  come  into  his  description  after- 
ward, if  at  all,  and  never  with  much  clearness  of 
detail,  as  having  been  a  recollection  rather  than  an 
experience — a   necessity,  not   an  enthusiasm. 

Such  a  suggestion  keeps  recurring  to  the  student 
of  Gospel  annals  during  all  his  inquiries  concerning 
that  special  period  of  the  world  in  which  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  appeared.  People  who  were  sober 
enough  to  watch  at  all,  were  watching  the  rising  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness ;  they  had  little  heart  to 
give  to    those    minor  circumstances   that   would  be 


32  SIMON    PETER  : 

reckoned  in  an  ordinary  man's  life — such  as,  for  ex- 
ample, that  of  Simon,  the  son  of  Jonas.  It  disap- 
points us  to  find  so  slight  references  to  him  in  these 
momentous  years  of  revolution,  combat,  and  change. 
But  what  was  one  common  man  then ! 

We  conjecture  that  he  remained  in  Galilee  all  the 
time  :  that  he  took  up  fishing  for  a  business — that  his 
life,  from  the  age  of  twelve  to  forty,  was  passed  in 
the  diligence  of  his  rough  calling.  It  would  be  natu- 
ral for  us  to  draw  imaginative  pictures  of  his  daily 
existence — to  think  of  the  gentle  influences  and  en- 
joyments of  nature  around  him  ;  the  scenery  of  the 
lake  ;  the  grand  moonlight  in  the  night  ventures ; 
the  brightness  of  the  water  when  he  rowed  in  to  mar- 
ket in  the  morning ;  the  shadows  on  the  afternoon 
hills  ;  and  the  beat  of  the  mill-wheels  working  beside 
the  torrents  on  the  shore. 

To  such  as  ourselves,  we  will  say,  all  these  sur- 
roundings appear  full  of  interest,  full  almost  of  intox- 
icating delight,  if  our  love  of  out-door  life  is  keen. 
But  many  of  us  know  that  the  majority  of  rural 
people,  who  reside  in  the  constant  companionship  of 
a  mountain  range,  a  sparkling  cascade,  or  a  mirror- 
like lake,  become  familiar  with  everything  we  think 
we  discover  in  the  scenery ;  and,  unless  some  one 
possessed  of  a  poetic  temperament  and  a  habit  of  close 
observation  shall  be  found  here  and  there,  the 
whole  neighborhood  will  be  voted  commonplace.  A 
rustic  sees  only  plain  facts  : 

**  A  primrose  by  a  river's  brim 

A  yellow  primrose  is  to  him, 

And  it  is  nothing  more." 


BOYHOOD    IN    GENNESARET.  33 

A  remark  was  once  made  by  Niemeyer  which  was 
considered  of  so  much  significance  that  Dean  Howson 
has  seen  fit  to  place  it  on  the  title-page  of  his  Horce 
Pctrince  as  a  motto,  and  yet,  it  would  seem  as  if 
anybody  could  make  it,  after  moderate  study :  *'  In 
Peter  is  more  of  human  nature  than  in  anyother  of  the 
apostles."  And  certainly  those  who  are  familiar  with 
villages  inhabited  mostly  by  fishermen,  would  conjec- 
ture that  the  human  nature  there  displayed  would 
generally  be  of  a  quite  commonplace  type.  We 
should  not  suppose  that  this  boy  of  Jonas*,  helping  in 
all  his  daily  tasks  to  mend  nets  and  man  boats,  as  his 
father  directed,  would  show  anything  more  concern- 
ing his  great  future  as  a  leader  of  the  church  than 
the  rest  of  his  toiling  comrades  in  the  same  town. 
Perhaps,  therefore,  we  have  lost  nothing  because  of 
the  silence  that  surrounds  him.  He  lived  and  grew 
older. 

And  all  this  time,  just  a  few  miles  from  Bcthsaida, 
the  real  Christ  of  God  was  ''increasing  in  wisdom  and 
stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man."  No  indi- 
cation comes  to  us  that  Simon  ever  saw  or  heard  of 
that  carpenter's  Child  over  in  Nazareth,  during  these 
tumultuous  years.  It  fairly  arrests  our  imagina- 
tion to  think  of  a  nearness  so  undiscovered  and 
unconscious.  Two  lives  were  within  a  day's  walk  of 
each  other — moving  towards  two  distant  crosses — on 
their  way  to  a  common  triumph  and  trial :  but  Mary 
simply  pondered  mysterious  sayings  in  her  heart,  and 
Simon  was  not  yet  Peter. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

GOING     UP   TO   JERUSALEM. 

It  would  not  be  far  out  of  the  way,  if  we  should 
assert  that  the  youthful  Simon — perhaps  with  his 
parents,  and  in  company  with  the  other  Bethsaida 
boys  among  the  neighbors — went  up  to  Passover  for 
the  first  time  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  return  of 
Joseph  to  Nazareth  with  Mary  and  her  infant  child 
Jesus.  For  the  ancient  requisition  of  the  law  was 
peremptory,  and  such  truly  religious  people  as 
Jonas  and  Zebedee  would  see  it  strictly  obeyed: 

**  Three  times  in  a  year  shall  all  thy  males  appear 
before  the  Lord  thy  God  in  the  place  which  he  shall 
choose  ;  in  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  and  in  the 
feast  of  weeks,  and  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles  :  and 
they  shall  not  appear  before  the  Lord  empty  :  every 
man  shall  give  as  he  is  able,  according  to  the  blessing 
of  the  Lord  thy  God  which  he  hath  given  thee." 

It  will  be  recollected  that  the  silence  of  our 
Saviour's  history  is  broken  at  one  point,  by  the  story 
of  his  visit  to  the  city  of  his  father's  faith  and  wor- 
ship, and  his  conversation  with  the  erudite  doctors 
in  the  temple.  This  shows  at  least  what  the  custom 
was  in  the  families  of  the  devout  during  all  that 
period. 

But  it  must  be  admitted  that  no  record  whatso- 
ever is  furnished  of  Simon's  first  feast,  and  we  are  left 
only   to  the   conjecture  that  the  ordinary  course  of 


GOING   UP   TO   JERUSALEM.  35 

affairs  would  allow.  We  can  assume  it  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  his  parents  did  w^hat  other  parents  were 
accustomed  to  do.  And  this  helps  us  very  much  in 
ascertaining  how  full  of  opportunity  these  Galilean 
peasants'  lives  became,  and  how  favorable  for  obtain- 
ing some  knowledge  of  the  world  around  them. 

No  one  can  read  the  narratives  of  the  Scriptures 
without  noting  the  exceeding  joyousness  of  these 
annual  pilgrimages  across  the  entire  country.  They 
are  always  mentioned  with  kindled  feeling  of  exhila- 
ration. The  amiable  seclusion  of  the  ordinary  village 
life  that  many  of  the  people  lived,  broken  in  upon  by 
these  periodic  tours  ;  the  devotional  temper  of  their 
minds,  given  fresh  indulgence ;  the  historic  patriotism 
and  pride  of  ancestral  memories,  stimulated  by  the 
sight  and  realization  of  so  sacred  a  city  as  Jerusalem ; 
the  social  companionship  necessary  on  the  stages  of 
their  slow  travel  over  hill  and  valley,  when  whole 
towns  turned  out  together  on  the  same  pleasant 
errand  ;  even  the  matchless  beauty  of  Palestine  at  the 
chosen  seasons  for  the  various  festivals ;  all  these 
joined  to  make  each  recurrence  of  the  journey  an 
exciting  anticipation  and  a  long  memory. 

This  explains  the  presence  of  so  enormous  a  multi- 
tude of  men,  women,  and  children,  when  the  people 
were  fed  with  miraculous  loaves  and  fishes  on  the 
shores  of  Gennesaret ;  they  were  doubtless  pilgrims 
going  up  to  the  passover.  This  tells  us  in  respect  to 
the  great  crowds  who  cheered  and  sang  when  Jesus 
was  riding  into  Jerusalem,  how  it  happened  that  they 
were  so  enthusiastic   and  unsophisticated ;  they  were 


^6  ,  SIMON  peter: 

rural  people,  just  come  In  from  the  country,  and 
they  let  their  artless  enthusiasm  have  play.  This 
helps  in  the  proof  that  Jesus'  disciples  did  not  steal 
his  body  away  the  night  after  the  crucifixion  ;  the 
entire  neighborhood  was  thronged  almost  to  suffoca- 
tion with  strangers. 

It  would  take  Jonas  and  Zebedee — piloting  their 
families  on  *'  in  the  way  their  fathers  trod" — two  or 
three  days  at  the  least  to  reach  Jerusalem  from  their 
quiet  home  beside  the  Sea  of  GaHlee.  Most  likely 
their  route  would  be  along  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  on 
the  eastern  shore  a  part  of  the  way,  in  the  Greek 
country  called  Decapolis.  The  caravans  would  cross 
the  stream  at  the  border  line  of  Galilee,  so  as  to 
escape  passing  through  the  regions  then  rendered 
unsafe  by  the  jealousy  and  positive  malevolence  of 
the  Samaritans.  Reaching  the  ford,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Bethabara,  they  might  easily  pass  over  into 
Judaea  close  by  Jericho,  and  thence  climb  up  by  the 
regular  road  leading  to  Bethany  and  the  Mount  of 
Olives. 

Those  who  have  gazed  upon  that  city  of  Jerusalem 
from  the  exquisite  outlook  offered  in  the  tower  of  the 
little  "Church  of  the  Ascension"  on  the  summit  of 
Olivet,  would  wish  that  every  one  w^ho  loves  the 
pathetic  old  town  might  catch  his  earliest  glimpse  of 
it  from  that  direction.  It  is  no  mere  modern  custom 
which  leads  travelers  to  pitch  their  tents  on  that  his- 
toric slope.  The  multitudes  of  Israelites  in  all  the  years 
thronging  the  vicinity  have  recognized  the  advanta- 
ges of  the  spot.     So   large  must  have  been  the  num- 


GOING   UP    TO   JERUSALEM.  37 

bers  of  pilgrims  when  all  the  tribes  came  up  together, 
that  it  never  was  possible  to  find  accommodation  for 
man  and  beast  within  the  walls.  They  used  to  rear 
for  themselves  arbors,  or  booths,  made  of  branches 
interlaced  and  covered  w^ith  loose  matting.  And 
some  sheltered  their  families  in  light  tents.  All  along 
the  slopes  of  this  beautiful  hill  they  established  their 
temporary  residences  for  an  enthusiastic  week  of  con- 
tent and  joy.  The  peace  was  welcome  after  the 
wearying  journeys;  the  April  air  was  full  of  soft- 
ness ;  around  them  was  spread  a  profusion  of  flowers 
and  blossoms ;  singing  voices  met  voices  singing  on- 
every  side  ;  old  friends  clasped  hands  in  renewal  of 
affection  ;  and,  more  than  all  beside,  there  before  the 
very  door  lay  Jerusalem  itself  in  the  reality  of  its 
glory  ! 

It  is  well  understood  that  certain  of  the  psalms, 
called  the  ''Songs  of  Degrees,"  were  composed  for 
the  use  of  the  people  coming  up  to  these  festivals. 
They  kept  repeating  them  with  music  on  their  journey, 
and  they  chanted  them  together  on  the  temple  steps. 
These  helped  to  enliven  their  spirits  as  they  plodded 
along  in  the  sunshine  or  halted  in  the  shade.  But 
the  full  reach  of  their  meaning  was  attained  only 
when  the  tired  families  settled  upon  this  final  ridge 
and  gazed  upon  the  city  of  their  hope  and  love. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  to  communicate  to 
another  that  enthusiasm  of  delight,  and  that  suffusion 
of  sensibility,  with  w^hich  even  in  our  modern  times 
one  is  inspired  by  this  outlook.  The  emotion  has  no 
relation  to  an  ordinary  excitement  of  travel ;    it  is  an 


38  SIMON  teter: 

intense  enjoyment  peculiar  and  indescribable.  The 
simple  vision  awakes  one's  whole  soul,  and  stirs  the 
very  center  of  his  being. 

Especially  at  this  season,  and  in  the  evening  hours ; 
for  the  passover  always  occurs  at  the  full  of  the  moon. 
In  that  almost  supernatural  illumination,  when  the 
sky  is  so  clear  and  when  the  air  is  so  pure  as  it  is  in 
that  wonderful  climate,  the  city  lies  plainly  outlined, 
every  tower  and  balcony  and  dome.  For  the  bril- 
liancy of  the  night  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the 
day.  The  roofs  and  roads,  the  trees  and  walls,  are 
fairly  silver  with  the  white  light. 

One  may  at  last  resolutely  retire  to  the  couch  in 
his  comfortable  tent,  making  obsequious  apology  for 
closing  his  eyes  on  such  a  landscape  those  peerless 
evenings,  that  he  is  burdened  with  poor  human 
fatigue,  and  exhausted  sometimes  even  to  pain.  An 
ineffable  hush  over  all  the  outside  world  invites  to 
repose ;  men  and  animals  are  alike  still.  Even  the 
chattering  group  of  his  Arab  attendants,  whose  faces 
just  before  he  saw  ruddy  in  the  red  gleam  of  the  camp- 
fire,  are  now  huddled  indistinguishably  together  under 
their  brown  garments,  silent  in  slumber.  His  eyes 
may  be  heavy,  but  his  mind  will  disdain  to  rest.  Then 
he  will  understand  what  the  words  mean,  *'  I  sleep, 
but  my  heart  waketh."  For  the  instant  the  snuffy 
candle  is  extinguished,  and  the  passover  moonlight 
streams  in  through  the  curtainless  doorway — there  it 
all  is  again  !  There  lingers  undiminished  that  glory 
of  ancient  memory  and  song  in  serene  shining. 

Nobody  can  be  tame  now.     One  will  say,  over  and 


GOING    UP    TO   JERUSALEM.  39 

over,  the  hundred  and  twenty-second  psalm.  He 
will  be  sure  to  "pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem." 
He  will  claim  for  himself  most  honestly  the  promise, 
"They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee."  Then  at  the 
last,  if  he  draws  the  folds  of  canvas,  and  closes  out 
the  moonlit  spectacle,  he  will  fall  asleep,  saying  softly, 
even  in  his  dreams  : 

"  Peace  be  within  thy  walls,  and  prosperity  within 
thy  palaces.  For  my  brethren  and  companions' 
sakes,  I  will  now  say.  Peace  be  within  thee.  Because 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will  seek  thy 
good." 

In  such  feelings,  so  irresistible  even  to  a  chance 
Christian  traveler,  Ave  are  certain  is  found  an  expla- 
nation of  those  inspired  verses  which,  when  we  read 
them  now,  seem  almost  extravagant.  The  earliest 
sight  of  this  town  and  its  sacred  edifices — what  must 
it  have  been  to  any  devout  Israelite  !  No  wonder  he 
called  Mount  Zion  his  "  chief  joy."  No  wonder  he 
lifted  his  hands  to  exclaim  : 

"  I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me.  Let  us  go  into 
the  house  of  the  Lord. 

"Our  feet  shall  stand  within  thy  gates,  O  Jeru- 
salem. 

"  Jerusalem  is  builded  as  a  city  that  Is  compact  to- 
gether :  whither  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes  of  the 
Lord,  unto  the  testimony  of  Israel,  to  give  thanks 
unto  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

"For  there  are  set  thrones  of  judgment,  the  thrones 
of  the  house  of  David. 

"Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth, 


40  SIMON    PETER: 

is  Mount  ZIon,  on  the  sides  of  the  north,  the  city  of 
the  great  King." 

And  in  association  it  was  more  lovely  still.  All 
the  glories  of  the  splendid  past,  all  the  hopes  of  a 
radiant  future,  centered  there.  The  history  of  David's 
kingdom,  and  the  predictions  of  Messiah's  advent, 
alike  mentioned  this  matchless  Capital.  Some  of  the 
ancient  Rabbins  used  to  say:  **  He  that  never  saw 
Jerusalem  in  its  splendor,  never  saw  a  beautiful  city ; 
and  he  that  never  saw  the  Temple,  never  saw  the 
noblest  fabric  under  the  sun  !" 

The  dispositions  of  children  are  molded  and  the 
elements  of  their  characters  are  fixed  under  pressure 
of  such  training  as  this.  Young  Simon's  imagination 
would  be  kindled,  his  whole  future  would  be  swayed, 
by  even  a  single  visit  with  his  parents  to  that  capital  of 
his  nation  at  one  of  the  great  feasts.  But  we  are  to 
recollect  that  the  experience  was  repeated  three  times 
a  year  through  all  of  his  opening  manhood.  One 
after  another  of  the  grand  events  of  the  illustrious  his- 
tory would  find  its  rehearsal.  Jonas  would  be  sure  to 
point  out  the  objects  within  stroke  of  his  eye,  and 
connect  the  Scripture  narratives  with  them  for  a  per- 
manent impression. 

For  example:  that  curious  structure  which  every 
one  sees  now  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  bearing  the 
name  of  ''Absalom's  Tomb,"  may  not  be,  even  though 
many  still  think  it  is,  the  very  pillar  which  this  son 
of  David  reared  ''in  the  King's  Dale";  but  most 
authorities  are  agreed  that  it  was  in  existence,  and 
that  traditions   of  the  people    connected  it  with  the 


GOING   UP   TO   JERUSALEM.  41 

rebel's  name,  before  Herod  was  dead.  No  doubt  the 
boy  received  many  an  admonition  with  that  forlorn 
stone  for  a  text,  and  thus  gained  his  lesson  about  the 
wickedness  of  a  disobedient  child.  He  may  possibly 
have  read  aloud  that  story  of  the  monarch's  flight, 
when  the  ingrate  pursued  him : 

*'  And  David  said  unto  all  his  servants  that  were 
with  him  at  Jerusalem,  Arise,  and  let  us  flee ;  for  we 
shall  not  else  escape  from  Absalom  ;  make  speed  to 
depart,  lest  he  overtake  us  suddenly,  and  bring  evil 
upon  us,  and  smite  the  city  with  the  edge  of  the 
sword. 

"And  all  the  country  wept  w^ith  a  loud  voice,  and 
all  the  people  passed  over;  the  king  also  himself 
passed  over  the  brook  Kidron,  and  all  the  people 
passed  over,  toward  the  way  of  the  wilderness. 

''And  David  went  up  by  the  ascent  of  Mount 
Olivet,  and  wept  as  he  went  up,  and  had  his  head  cov- 
ered, and  he  went  barefoot :  and  all  the  people  that 
was  with  him  covered  every  man  his  head,  and  they 
went  up,  weeping  as  they  went  up." 

Then  the  actual  path  of  the  mourning  loyalists  could 
be  seen  traced  white  along  the  hillside,  from  the  east- 
ern gate  to  the  summit  where  they  sat.  How 
strikingly  the  locality  would  fix  in  mind  all  the  inci- 
dents of  a  historic  fact  like  that!  One  of  the  promi- 
nent characteristics  of  Simon  Peter's  mind  was  his 
unusual  aptitude  for  picturesque  appreciation.  We 
can  readily  understand  that  when  he  was  an  imagina- 
tive boy,  his  whole  being  would  be  absorbed  by  an 
object-lesson   so   intense,  he  would  actually  sec   the 


42  SIMON    PETER: 

crownless  monarch  toiling  up  the  hill,  and  the  sorrow- 
ful nobles  in  his  train. 

Nor  was  this  the  finest  sight  that  old  white  path 
would  suggest.  Perhaps  they  would  set  the  boy  at 
reading  one  of  the  mysterious  chapters  of  Ezekiel's 
prophecy.  He  may  have  been  asking  questions  about 
the  former  Temple  which  once  stood  on  this  same 
sacred  spot.  Jonas  would  tell  him  that  the  mighty 
edifice  of  Solomon  had  in  it  five  things  which  this 
temple  lacked.  And  if  Simon  asked,  in  his  natural 
curiosity,  what  became  of  the  chief  one  of  them, 
namely,  that  grand  Shechinah  light  which  used  to 
shine  upon  the  -mercy-seat,  surely  this  would  be  the 
place  to  give  him  his  exact  reply  : 

"Then  the  glory  of  the  Lord  went  up  from  the 
cherub,  and  stood  over  the  threshold  of  the  house; 
and  the  house  was  filled  with  the  cloud,  and  the  court 
was  full  of  the  brightness  of  the  Lord's  glory. 

"Then  the  glory  of  the  Lord  departed  from  ofT  the 
threshold  of  the  house,  and  stood  over  the  cher- 
ubim. 

"  And  the  cherubim  lifted  up  their  wings,  and 
mounted  up  from  the  earth  in  my  sight;  when  they 
went  out,  the  wheels  also  were  beside  them,  and  every 
one  stood  at  the  door  of  the  east  gate  of  the  Lord's 
house ;  and  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  was  over 
them  above. 

"  Then  did  the  cherubim  lift  up  their  wings  and 
the  wheels  beside  them  ;  and  the  glory  of  the  God  of 
Israel  was  over  them  above. 

"And  the   glory  of  the  Lord   went   up   from    the 


GOING    UP   TO   JERUSALEM.  43 

midst  of  the  city,  and  stood  upon  the  mountain  which 
is  on  the  east  side  of  the  city." 

Here  the  saddened  Jews  found  a  reason  for  their 
shame ;  for  a  figure  Hke  this  could  only  signify  an 
official  and  judicial  departure  of  divine  favor,  because 
of  their  unworthiness.  A  most  interesting  legend  is 
recorded  in  one  of  the  Hebrew  books,  showing  what 
Avas  the  popular  belief  at  the  time.  It  is  stated  that 
this  Shechinah  paused  for  a  season  on  the  threshold, 
as  if  loath  to  leave  its  resting-place  between  the  cheru- 
bim, then  it  paused  again  near  the  door  of  the  east 
gate,  as  if  wishing  to  be  hindered  ;  then  at  last  it  took 
its  solemn  way  silently  up  the  central  path  until  it 
stood  tranquilly  gleaming  on  the  ridge  of  the  mount- 
ain. There  it  remained  three  years  and  a  half,  just 
to  see  whether  the  listless  nation  would  be  stirred  up 
to  repentance.  And  they  said  that  a  plaintive  and 
affectionate  voice  would  ever  and  anon  come  forth 
from  the  luminous  cloud,  calling,  **  Return  unto  me, 
O  my  sons,  and  I  will  surely  return  to  you  !  "  Then 
finally  it  arose  from  the  ground,  and  in  the  graphic 
language  of  the  record,  ''went  to  its  own  place." 

With  what  sentiments  of  awe  would  the  young 
Simon  gaze  forth  upon  such  scenes  !  There  was  the 
gate ;  there  was  the  path  ;  there  was  the  mountain  ! 
Perforce  his  mind  would  be  taught  and  moved  for- 
ever, as  he  remembered  this  prophecy  and  sat  think- 
ing on  that  hill.  At  his  very  feet  lay  the  sward  once 
radiant  with  illumination  from  the  symbol  of  his  Cre- 
ator's glory,  the  mystery  of  Jehovah's  light,  passing 
av/ay  from  mortal  darkness,  moving  homxto  its  rest! 


44  SIMON  peter: 

There  is  no  need  of  our  tracing  the  story  of  such 
a  Passover  pilgrimage  any  further.  Enough  has 
been  said  to  show  how  the  histories  and  doctrines  of 
that  ancient  faith  were  learned  and  taught  in  the 
experience  of  Simon,  this  son  of  Jonas  from  Bethsaida. 

He  would  now  know  how  divine  justice  deals  with 
human  guilt,  how  divine  mercy  forgives  a  penitent 
soul,  how  divine  goodness  invariably  welcomes  a 
faithful  service,  how  divine  promises  furnish  food  in 
the  desert,  how  divine  foresight  sees  the  generations 
far  off.  And  with  this  knowledge,  what  more  would 
this  young  lad  need,  as  the  years  passed  along,  and 
he  remained  in  his  father's  routine  of  daily  toil  by 
the  sea,  to  show  him  what  we  mean  when  we  say, 
*'  God  is  a  spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable 
in  his  being,  wisdom,  power,  hohness,  justice,  good- 
ness, and  truth  "  ? 

Still,  this  is  not  all  he  would  need.  Something 
beyond  such  a  mere  notion  of  God's  providence  is 
demanded  for  salvation.  Each  soul  must  be  made 
to  understand  the  atonement  provided  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  our  race  from  the  curse  of  God's  broken  law. 
And  this  the  ceremonies  of  the  great  feast  itself  were 
intended  to  teach  to  all  who  participated  in  them. 
So  it  becomes  a  matter  of  absorbing  interest  for  us 
to  ascertain  exactly  what  the  Passover  was  in  that 
period  of  history  when  Simon  witnessed  its  celebra- 
tion first,  and,  if  possible,  to  learn  what  were  the 
lessons  he  would  gain  from  it. 


I 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   FOURTEENTH    OF   NISAN. 

We  have  imagined  that  the  family  of  Jonas  came 
up  early  in  that  twelfth  year  of  young  Simon's  life, 
and  were  at  Jerusalem  in  a  good  time  to  secure  a 
favorable  location  upon  the  usually  crowded  slope  of 
Mount  Olivet.  We  have  pictured  their  modest  tent, 
with  its  fine  outlook.  But  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  this  lad  would  remain  under  cover  very  much 
while  such  stirring  events  were  abroad  as  the  four- 
teenth day  of  Nisan  was  wont  to  bring  to  his  people 
in  the  city  of  the  great  King. 

Let  us  understand  that  the  Passover  feast  was  by 
law  fixed  on  the  day  which  came  fourteen  days  after 
the  new  moon  of  Abib,  and  the  month  Abib  was 
made  the  first  of  the  months,  and  so  became  the 
beginning  of  the  year.  The  meaning  of  the  word 
Abib  is  '*  ears  of  grain ;"  and  the  meaning  of  the 
word  Zif^  the  name  of  the  month  which  was  reckoned 
next,  is  **  blossoms."  After  the  Babylonish  captivity 
Abib  seems  to  have  yielded  to  Nisan  as  the  term  of 
designation,  and  so  the  date  of  the  festival  was  known 
as  the  fourteenth  of  Nisan.  This  month  very  nearly 
coincided  with  our  April,  and  Zif  with  our  May; 
but,  being  governed  by  the  phases  of  the  moon, 
there  would  be  some  shifting  of  the  periods,  putting 
one  year  with  another,  as  is  the  case  with  our  modern 
dates  of  Easter  or  Good  Friday.  Thus  we  under- 
stand that  these  scenes  of  the  Passover  we  are  seek- 


46  SIMON  peter: 

ing  to  describe  were  reproduced  each  season  in  the 
most  comfortable  and  beautiful  portion  of  the  year. 
The  nights  were  warm  and  dry,  the  moon  was  com- 
ing up  to  the  full,  the  journeys  were  easy,  the  spring 
harvests  waved  in  the  fields,  the  blossoms  shone,  the 
birds  kept  singing. 

Out  there  on  the  hillside  stands  the  wondering 
Simon.  It  is  not  always  necessary  to  think  of  this 
boy  as  in  an  awkward  costume.  Children  have 
their  holiday  dresses  in  Palestine  as  elsewhere. 
And  we  must  seem  to  see  a  bright  lad  in  his  simple 
garment  of  light  stuff,  the  substantial  plainness  of 
which  is  relieved  by  a  high-colored  scarf,  or  perhaps 
covered  with  a  tunic  of  silk,  his  head  wearing  the 
small  red  fez,  with  its  graceful  tassel  of  dark  fringe. 
Brisk  with  the  exhilaration  of  each  day's  journey,  he 
looks  like  a  mere  child  of  nature,  as  fresh  and  elastic 
as  the  flowers  he  treads  among,  and  as  free  as  the 
innumerable  bluebirds  which  flash  in  and  out  through 
the  hedges. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  ceremonies  intro- 
ducing passover  days  were  of  such  a  character  as 
powerfully  to  arrest  the  imagination  of  those  simple- 
minded  people  who  kept  the  annual  feast.  As  soon 
as  the  full  moon  was  announced,  the  Sanhedrin  gave 
official  notice  to  all  the  famihes  patiently  gathered 
around  the  sacred  city.  A  messenger  was  sent  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives  with  a  bundle  of  brushwood  or  straw, 
which  he  kindled  into  flame  on  the  very  summit. 
Meanwhile  he  flared  a  torch  backwards  and  forwards 
through  the  air  to  make  sure  to  the  watchers  on  other 


THE   FOURTEENTH    OF   NISAN.  47 

hills  that  this  was  the  true  signal  for  the  nation. 
Immediately,  sentinels  further  away  waved  along  this 
token  of  fire,  and  hurried  to  pile  up  heaps  of  stubble, 
or  whatever  was  nearest  to  hand  and  fittest  for  a 
beacon,  till  the  whole  country  was  in  a  blaze  of  intel- 
ligence. How  much  a  boy  of  twelve  years  would 
hke  that! 

And  while  the  tent  stood  on  the  hillside  at  Jerusa- 
lem, there  would  keep  coming  in  new  companies  of 
pilgrims.  It  was  the  custom,  when  it  could  be  af- 
forded, for  each  caravan  to  enter  Judaea  preceded  by 
a  great  bullock  with  gilded  horns,  and  accompanied 
with  music  of  trumpets  and  cymbals,  which  they  fol- 
lowed with  their  voices.  Hence  the  figure  in  the 
prophecy:  "The  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall  return, 
and  come  with  singing  unto  Zion." 

We  can  picture  the  exhilaration  there  would  be  in 
this.  Each  hour's  delay  would  awake  some  small 
anxiety  concerning  a  belated  neighbor.  Kept  back 
by  rougher  roads,  or  more  distant  journeys,  or  pos- 
sibly by  the  Avaning  strength  of  some  dear  old  man 
who  wanted  to  come  just  once  more,  perhaps  now 
and  then  a  family  would  be  behindhand;  and  then 
generous  friends  would  be  watching.  Every  new 
swell  of  instruments  would  bring  the  eager  faces  to  the 
doors  of  the  booths  and  tents.  So  there  would  be  a 
lively  fortnight  while  the  moon  w^as  growing  from  its 
first  thin  crescent  to  its  broad  full  face. 

Another  thing  must  be  borne  in  mind,  or  we  shall 
grow  confused.  The  forms  for  the  celebration 
of  the  Passover  were    authoritatively  fixed   by    the 


48  SIMON  peter: 

same  command  as  that  which  estabhshcd  it.  Un- 
doubtedly these  were  followed  with  careful  fidelity 
during  the  period  which  preceded  the  great  captiv- 
ity of  the  nation.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  the 
record  of  an  observance  of  the  feast  the  second  year 
at  Sinai.  Then  we  have  no  more  notice  of  it  until  the 
tribes  are  at  Jericho,  actually  inside  of  the  land  of 
promise.  The  Jews  themselves  insist  that  this  was 
the  meaning  of  the  divine  command.  Some  of  the 
minor  arrangements  must  have  been  changed  before 
Jesus'  time.  It  is  well  enough  to  know,  once  for  all, 
that  it  is  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  an  ordinance  which 
the  Lord  honors,  not  the  mere  form.  When  the 
remnant  of  the  people  came  up  from  Babylon  and 
were  again  settled  in  Canaan,  a  new  ritual  of  observ- 
ances was  fashioned  for  more  than  one  of  the  yearly 
festivals.  Certain  conveniences  of  method  and  man- 
agement in  the  details  of  sacrifice  were  also  tolerated, 
springing  up  out  of  the  altered  habits  of  the  families 
w^hen  the  temple  was  builded,  and  the  tribes  came  to 
their  rest  from  conquest. 

The  ancient  annalists  enumerate  these  four  partic- 
ulars as  having  been  dropped  when  the  later  customs 
were  adopted,  (i)  The  eating  of  the  lamb  in  differ- 
ent places — for  it  must  now  be  killed  in  the  sacred 
city  of  Jerusalem  only ;  (2)  The  taking  up  of  the 
victim  four  days  previous  to  the  sacrifice — for  as  the 
people  would  now  in  some  cases  have  to  come  by 
long  journeys  into  Judaea,  not  all  of  them  could  gain 
so  much  time  for  waiting;  (3)  The  striking  of  the 
blood  upon  the  doorposts  of  the  dwellings — for  now, 


THE    FOURTEENTH    OF   NISAX.  49 

since  the  literal  plague  of  Pharaoh  was  to  be  repeated 
no  more,  the  symbol  of  deliverance  from  it  might  be 
considered  as  spiritualized ;  (4)  The  partaking  of 
the  feast  in  haste — they  now  adopted  the  usual  pos- 
ture of  sitting  or  reclining  in  security  and  rest.  Thus 
they  professed  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  ordinance 
while  surrendering  the  form. 

The  Jews  began  their  days  with  the  evening  sun- 
set. Hence,  Good  Friday  of  that  eventful  week  when 
our  Lord  was  crucified,  commenced  with  the  ordinary 
ceremonies  of  Thursday  night.  At  this  time  a 
solemn  search  was  instituted  in  every  dwelling  for 
leaven — what  we  should  recognize  better  by  the 
common  name  of  yeast.  This  diligent  and  punctili- 
ous examination  went  through  the  whole  premises, 
entering  every  closet,  opening  every  drawer,  looking 
over  every  shelf  in  every  cupboard,  lest  even  the 
slightest  particle  of  the  forbidden  thing  should  be 
missed.  One  member  of  the  household  bore  a  dish 
and  brush,  with  which  the  tables  and  couches  were  an- 
xiously swept.  All  the  small  dust  thus  collected  was 
put  away  under  lock  and  key.  Late  after  midnight — 
some  say  in  the  early  forenoon  of  Friday — a  fire  was 
kindled  out  in  the  open  air,  and  the  dangerous 
fragments  and  crumbs  of  leavened  bread  were  con- 
sumed. This  custom  was  instituted  in  the  earliest 
history  of  the  ordinance:  **In  the  first  month,  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  the  month  at  even,  ye  shall  eat  un- 
leavened bread,  until  the  one  and  twentieth  day  of 
the  month  at  even.  Seven  days  shall  there  be  no 
leaven  found  in  your  houses:    for  whosoever  eateth 


50  SIMON   PETER  : 

that  which  is  leavened,  even  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off 
from  the  congregation  of  Israel,  whether  he  be  a 
stranger,  or  born  in  the  land.  Ye  shall  eat  nothing 
leavened:  in  all  your  habitations  shall  ye  eat  un- 
leavened bread.  Unleavened  bread  shall  be  eaten 
seven  days ;  and  there  shall  no  leavened  bread  be 
seen  with  thee,  neither  shall  there  be  leaven  seen 
with  thee  in  all  thy  quarters.  Seven  days  shall  ye 
eat  unleavened  bread;  even  the  first  day  ye  shall  put 
away  leaven  out  of  your  houses :  for  whosoever 
eateth  leavened  bread,  from  the  first  day  until  the 
seventh  day,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  Israel." 

Now  what  did  this  ceremony  signify  ?  Leaven  is 
a  product  of  fermentation ;  it  is  made  by  a  sort  of 
corruption ;  and  always,  if  continuing  to  work,  it 
grows  foul.  Hence  it  was  long  ago  chosen  as  the 
symbol  of  sin — corruption  or  wickedness  of  any  kind 
or  degree.  To  put  away  leaven  was,  under  a  figure, 
to  put  away  sin.  Hence  Paul's  language  both  ex- 
plains the  type  and  applies  the  principle  :  **  A  little 
leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.  Purge  out  there- 
fore the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  as  ye 
are  unleavened.  P'or  even  Christ  our  passover  is  sac- 
rificed for  us :  therefore  let  us  keep  the  feast,  not 
with  old  leaven,  neither  with  the  leaven  of  malice  and 
wickedness  ;  but  with  the  unleavened  bread  of  sincer- 
ity and  truth." 

The  Jewish  doctors  prescribed  four  degrees  of  prep- 
aration in  this  process.  The  first  was  what  was  called 
the  expurgatio  fcrnicnti — the  patient  cleansing  of  all 
their  household  utensils,  two  or  three  days  before  the 


THE   FOURTEENTH    OF   NISAN.  5  I 

Passover.  Then  the  inquisitio  fci'vicnti — the  search- 
ing after  leaven  throughout  the  dweUing,  of  which  we 
already  have  spoken.  Next  came  the  conflagratio 
fcnncnti — the  burning  up  of  the  leaven  they  had 
gathered.  Then  the  cxccratio  fcnncnti — the  curs- 
ing of  the  leaven ;  a  sort  of  exorcism,  the  form  of 
which  was  prescribed,  and  ran  somewhat  on  this 
wise : 

"  All  manner  of  ferment,  whether  seen  of  me  or 
not  seen — all  manner  of  ferment,  whether  cleansed  of 
me  or  not  cleansed — let  it  be  scattered,  annulled,  and 
accounted  as  the  dust  of  the  earth!" 

The  search  for  this  accursed  symbol  of  sin  must  be 
made  with  a  lighted  candle  and  in  solemn  silence  by 
the  head  of  the  house.  The  Jewish  expositors  are 
accustomed  to  say  that  this  is  the  meaning  of  the 
Lord's  searching  Jerusalem  "  with  candles  "  for  wicked 
men  ''  settled  on  their  lees,"  or,  as  the  margin  reads, 
''curded  or  thickened." 

At  last  the  Passover  day  arrived ;  and  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  a  mind  picturesque  and  imaginative,  like 
Simon's,  would  be  by  this  time  all  aroused  and  quick- 
ened into  curiosity.  About  two  o'clock,  the  trum- 
pets in  the  temple  and  along  the  steps  sounded  a 
great,  magnificent  blast,  ringing  from  a  thousand 
brazen  mouths.  All  around  instantly  came  the 
answering  peals  from  tent  and  booth  and  dwelling, 
as  the  stalwart  men  of  Galilee  and  Judaea  made  the 
air  quiver  with  their  horns — as  it  were,  the  nation 
sending  back  the  reply  to  their  leaders,  who  sum- 
moned them  to  come  unto  God's  service. 


52 


SIMON    TETER  : 


Now  every  father  of  a  family  started  for  the  temple 
enclosure,  bearing  a  lamb  in  his  arms.  The  vast 
multitudes  poured  along  down  from  the  hillsides,  out 
of  the  houses,  hurrying  through  the  street.  Four 
thousand  or  more  of  the  Levites  came  out  on  the 
steps  of  that  wonderful  edifice,  and  commenced  sing- 
ing the  Songs  of  Degrees,  in  solemn  and  joyful 
strains  of  male  voices,  making  the  wide  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat  echo  with  music,  while  the  throngs  on 
throngs  hurried  in.  Think  of  an  enthusiastic  Jewish 
boy  out  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  looking  off  over  an 
innumerable  sea  of  heads  like  this!  How  the  proces- 
sion would  fill  his  whole  soul  with  wonder!  How  the 
psalms  would  rise  and  swell  on  his  ear  across  the  valley ! 

For  this  night  the  evening  service  came  on  a  little 
earlier  than  usual,  for  there  was  so  much  to  be  done. 
Three  mighty  blasts  of  the  silver  trumpets  announced 
its  conclusion  ;  and  then  the  gates  were  barred 
against  all  entrance  into  the  court  of  the  priests  while 
the  work  of  killing  the  sacrificial  victims  took  place. 
Each  bead  of  a  family  slew  the  animal  he  brought, 
cutting  off  the  fat,  which  he  gave  to  the  officiating 
minister  to  burn  after  his  departure. 

When  any  one  division  of  the  people  had  com- 
pleted its  prescribed  work,  it  yielded  place  to  another ; 
so  the  stream  of  men  poured  out  again  to  their 
homes,  whether  located  inside  the  city  walls,  or  tem- 
porarily planted  in  the  outskirts.  And  still  that 
exhilarating  song  on  the  steps  went  on  ;  the  Levites 
continued  singing  the  Great  Hallel — the  psalms  num- 
bered in  our  Bibles  from  the  hundred  and  thirteenth 


THE    FOURTEENTH    OF   NISAN.  53 

to  the  hundred  and  eighteenth — and  the  sound  of 
such  cultivated  voices  in  chorus  must  have  been  sur- 
passingly full  of  sublimity  and  inspiration. 

We  must  arrest  the  progress  of  our  description 
here,  and  reserve  for  a  new  chapter  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Passover  feast  itself  Let  us  note,  just  now, 
the  interesting  coincidences  of  dates.  A  late  English 
writer  has  been  at  some  pains  to  collate  passages  of 
Scripture,  and  he  concludes  that  the  day  of  our 
Saviour's  crucifixion  was  the  anniversary,  not  only  of 
the  Exodus,  but  also  of  the  promise  to  Abraham  ; 
the  day  of  the  resurrection  was  the  anniversary  of  the 
crossing  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  of  the  resting  of  the 
Ark  on  Mount  Ararat ;  Nisan,  once  the  seventh  of 
the  twelve  months,  became  the  first  month  of  the 
year  ;  the  seventeenth  of  Nisan  marks  the  emergence 
of  the  renewed  earth  out  of  the  waters  of  the  Flood, 
the  march  of  God's  redeemed  people  from  the  waves 
of  the  sea,  and  the  rising  of  Jesus  from  the  dead. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  how  much  in  detail  this  young 
son  of  Jonas  may  have  acquired  of  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  grand  anticipation  and  longing  of  his 
race  for  their  Coming  King.  He  certainly  did  not 
know  the  deep  meaning  of  many  of  the  symbols  of 
atonement  he  saw  that  day,  as  we  understand  them 
now.  It  is  pathetic  to  think  how  unconsciously  he 
and  his  parents,  and  indeed  his  whole  nation,  passed 
the  hours  away,  without  having  a  single  notion  of 
what  Mary  had  kept  secret;  that,  behind  him  in 
Nazareth,  in  his  mother's  arms,  lay  the  true  Paschal 
Lamb,  the  world's  Messiah,  King  David  the  Second. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Simon's  first  passover. 

The  forms  employed  in  the  celebration  of  the  Pass- 
over are  almost  unchanged  even  in  our  day.  Three 
thousand  years  already  have  passed  away ;  and  still 
the  habits  of  those  strange  people  who  to-day  repre- 
sent the  nation  once  chosen  of  God  remain  very  much 
the  same.  No  lamb  has  ever  been  sacrificed  since 
the  temple  in  Jerusalem  was  destroyed ;  but  the  in- 
structions issued  in  the  modern  manuals  of  service 
suggest  almost  everything  which  used  to  be  practised 
among  the  Jews  in  the  middle  ages,  and  even  back 
as  far  as  the  time  of  our  Lord.  As  to  the  decoration 
of  the  table  on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  of 
Nisan,  the  following  particulars  have  been  prescribed 
for  the  faithful : 

"  For  the  first  two  nights  of  the  feast,  the  rules  re- 
quire that  three  plates  shall  be  placed  on  the  table 
after  the  cloth  is  laid,  in  one  of  which  three  unleav- 
ened cakes  shall  be  placed,  in  another  the  long  bone 
of  the  shoulder  of  the  lamb  and  an  egg  (both  roasted 
on  coals),  in  the  third  some  lettuce  and  celery,  or 
chervil  and  parsley  ;  a  cup  of  vinegar  or  salt  water; 
and,  finally,  a  compound  of  apples,  almonds,  etc., 
worked  up  to  the  consistence  of  mortar. 

*'  Before  each  partaker  of  the  passover  is  placed  a 
glass  or  cup  of  wine,  it  being  obligatory  to  drink  four 
glasses  of  wine  in  commemoration  of  the  four  differ- 
ent expressions  made  use  of  in  describing  Israel's  re- 


SIMON'S    FIRST    PASSOVER.  55 

demption  from  Egypt,  viz.,  *  And  I  brought  out,* 
*  and  I    delivered,'  '  and  I  redeemed,'  '  and  I   took.'  " 

A  side  note  just  here  says :  "  On  these  nights  it  is 
customary  to  allow  even  the  lowest  Hebrew  servant 
to  sit  at  table  during  the  ceremonial  part;  for,  as  zue 
were  all  equally  alike  in  bondage,  it  is  proper  that 
we  all  return  thanks  to  God  for  the  redemption'  " 

All  this  is  interesting,  surely  ;  but  the  main  need  for 
us  in  our  present  story  of  Simon  Peter  is  to  ascertain 
precisely  what  he  would  be  likely  to  see  on  the  first 
celebration  of  this  feast  that  he  ever  attended.  A  cu- 
rious liturgy  has  come  down  through  the  ages,  quite 
unaltered ;  one  which  the  Rabbins  were  wont  to  use 
at  the  time  when  our  Saviour  was  born ;  it  is  likely 
that  this  was  the  form  of  celebration  when  the  Beth- 
saida  family  arrived  in  the  Holy  City,  bringing  this 
lad  with  them.  It  will  of  itself  bear  rehearsing  in  de- 
tail for  its  mere  picturesqueness  ;  but  it  will  serve  also 
to  show  how  such  boys  learned  of  Christ. 

In  our  last  chapter,  we  left  Jonas  among  the  rev- 
erent but  packed  crowd  who  were  struggling  in  the 
temple-court  where  they  had  just  killed  their  lambs, 
seeking  his  egress  that  he  might  join  his  circle  of 
relatives  for  the  devotional  meal.  As  expeditiously 
now  as  possible,  this  paschal  victim  was  brought  in 
by  the  father  of  the  household,  and  immediately 
placed  (as  was  the  custom)  in  a  heated  hole  previously 
dug  in  the  ground  to  receive  it — a  sort  of  oven  in 
which  a  fire  had  been  kindled.  A  spit  of  pome- 
granate wood  was  passed  through  it  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  and  a  second  one  of  shorter  length  was  also 

3* 


56  SIMON  peter: 

thrust  across  from  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Thus  the 
lamb  would  hang  free  over  the  coals  till  it  was 
roasted  for  the  eating.  All  the  guests  now  put  on 
their  most  beautiful  garments,  and  the  brightest  lamps 
in  the  house  were  lit. 

When  all  things  were  ready  for  the  table,  and  the 
company  were  reverently  assembled,  the  attitude  was 
assumed  which  most  strikingly  illustrated  the  changed 
condition  of  the  people.  The  company  did  not  stand 
with  their  loins  girded  for  marching,  but  reclined  on 
long  couches ;  the  head  towards  the  feast,  the  feet 
turned  away  from  it.  So  we  understand  at  once  how 
the  penitent  woman  at  Simon's  banquet  could  stand 
''  behind  "  Jesus  at  his  feet.  This  was  the  customary 
posture  in  eating ;  and  it  was  particularly  prescribed 
for  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  order  to  show  that  Israel 
was  now  at  peace  and  rest.  The  Talmud  commands 
this:  *'  Because  it  is  the  manner  of  slaves  to  eat 
standing,  therefore  now  they  eat  sitting  and  leaning 
as  free  men  do,  in  memorial  of  their  freedom."  In- 
ded,  it  was  forbidden  to  partake  of  the  paschal  lamb 
otherwise  :  "  No,  not  the  poorest  in  Israel  may  eat 
till  he  has  sat  down,  leaning."  The  left  elbow  was 
placed  on  the  table,  and  the  head  might  rest  upon 
that  hand,  thus  intimate  companions  being  neigh- 
bors on  the  couch  might  seem  almost  to  be  leaning 
on  each  other's  bosom,  or  lying  on  each  other's 
breast,  as  "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  "  has  re- 
lated. 

Then  the  official  head  of  the  household,  or,  at  his 
invitation,  the  most  eminent  personage  of  the  company 


SIMON  S   FIRST    PASSOVER.  57 

present,  lifting  a  cup  of  wine  in  his  hand,  began  the 
ceremonies  of  the  occasion  with  this  joyous  ascrip- 
tion of  praise : 

*'  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  King  of 
the  universe,  who  hast  created  the  fruit  of  the  vine  ! 
Blessed  art  thou,  Jehovah  our  God,  who  hast  chosen 
us  from  among  all  people,  and  exalted  us  from  among 
all  languages,  and  sanctified  us  with  thy  command- 
ments !  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  King 
of  the  universe, who  hast  preserved  us  alive  and  sus- 
tained us,  and  brought  us  to  this  season  !  " 

The  first  cup  of  wine  was  then  tasted  by  him,  and 
afterwards  all  who  were  present  followed  his  example. 
This  was  called  the  blessing  of  the  wine.  Some  think 
it  was  precisely  this  which  our  divine  Saviour  did  in 
the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  "  he  took 
the  cup  and  gave  thanks,  and  said.  Take  this  and  di- 
vide it  among  yourselves." 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  meal,  water  was 
brought  in  that  all  the  guests  might  wash  their 
hands.  Then  the  master  of  ceremonies  rising  offered 
a  prayer  of  general  thanksgiving  in  these  words: 

*'  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  com- 
manded us  concerning  this  washing  of  our  hands ! 
Yea,  thou  hast  chosen  us  above  all  nations.  Thou 
hast  given  us  thy  holy  festivals  with  joy  and  re- 
joicing !" 

Just  here  comes  in  the  incident  of  our  Lord's 
Avashing  his  disciples'  feet.  The  expression,  **  supper 
being  ended,"  is  quite  faulty  as  a  rendering  ;  it  should 


58  SIMON  teter: 

be,  '*  supper  being  on,  or  proceeding."  No  doubt 
our  Saviour  performed  this  menial  act  to  teach  the 
lesson  of  a  profound  humihty,  and  at  the  same 
moment  to  show  the  significance  of  the  symbol.  It 
Avas  as  if  he  would  say  to  his  followers,  *'  Be  willing 
to  stoop  to  any  lowness  of  service  to  cleanse  men's 
souls  from  sin." 

Then  next  to  this,  in  the  formula  for  the  Passover, 
a  small  table  was  spread,  having  on  it  some  bitter 
herbs  and  unleavened  bread,  with  also  a  dish  contain- 
ing a  peculiar  mixture  composed  of  wine  and  fruit- 
cake, raisins  and  dates,  worked  into  a  sort  of  palatable 
sauce.  At  this  moment  likewise  was  brought  in  the 
body  of  the  paschal  lamb.  The  unleavened  bread 
was  merely  a  pile  of  thin  wafers  of  the  most  meagre 
kind,  mere  cakes  made  out  of  flour  and  water,  and 
pierced  with  holes  in  order  that  no  possible  fermen- 
tation could  take  place  even  in  the  swift  process  of 
baking  they  passed  through.  Then  the  master  of 
ceremonies,  rising,  offered  a  brief  prayer  of  general 
invocation,  after  which  each  of  the  company  took  of 
the  bitter  herbs  a  moderate  portion ;  this,  dipping  it 
in  the  sweet  sauce  as  a  sop,  he  ate,  no  guest  being 
permitted  to  eat  less  than  the  size  of  an  olive.  Then 
the  whole  table  was  suddenly  carried  out  of  the  room, 
and  a  plain  cup  of  wine  and  water  was  set  before  the 
master  and  everyone  at  the  service  ;  but  of  this  for 
some  little  pause  of  time  no  one  in  the  company  was 
expected  to  taste.  The  object  of  such  strange  silence 
and  mystery  of  delay  seems  to  have  been  to  pique 
the  curiosity  of  younger  members  of  the  household, 


SIMON'S    FIRST   PASSOVER.  59 

and  invite  them  to  ask  what  was  the  reason  of  it. 
It  was  a  suggestion  made  by  tlie  words  of  Moses  in 
the  original  institution  of  the  festival  :  *'  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  when  your  children  shall  say  unto  you, 
What  mean  ye  by  this  service  ?  that  ye  shall  say,  It 
is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  Passover,  who  passed 
over  the  houses  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt, 
when  he  smote  the  Egyptians,  and  deUvered  our 
houses." 

Hence,  at  this  point  in  the  administration,  a  young 
lad — usually  the  son  of  the  master — came  forward 
and  put  the  question  : 

*'  What  do  ye  mean  by  such  a  service  as  this  ?" 

Now  it  does  not  seem  any  unusual  stretch  of  our 
imagination  in  this  recital  to  suppose  that  the  lad 
who  performed  this  office,  on  the  occasion  we  have 
been  studying,  was  Simon  himself  For  who  would 
be  likelier  than  he,  this  bright  boy  in  his  gay  gar- 
ments and  with  his  inquisitive  look  ?  And  it  aids  very 
much  in  our  inquiries  as  to  the  processes  of  his  rehg- 
ious  education  to  find  that  he  had  such  matchless 
opportunities  of  learning  what  he  needed  to  know. 

A  second  cup  of  wine  was  now  poured  out,  and 
then  this  same  lad  pressed  for  a  somewhat  more 
extensive  explanation  of  the  feast : 

*'  What  mean  ye  by  this  service  ?  Wherefore  is 
this  night  distinguished  from  all  other  nights;  in  what 
does  it  differ  thus  ?  For  on  all  other  nights  we  wash 
but  once,  this  night  twice ;  on  all  other  nights  we 
eat  bread  leavened  or  unleavened,  this  night  unleav- 
ened    only ;     on    all     other     nights    we     eat    flesh 


6o  SIMON  peter: 

roasted  or  baked  or  boiled,  this  night  roasted  only  ; 
on  all  other  nights  we  eat  of  any  herbs,  this  night  of 
bitter  herbs  only ;  on  all  other  nights  we  either  re- 
cline or  sit  while  we  eat,  this  night  we  recline  only." 

The  father  of  the  household  then  gravely  arose 
and  delivered  an  address.  He  rehearsed  the  history 
of  Israel,  showing  God's  deliverances  in  the  nation's 
times  of  peril,  especially  dwelling  upon  the  events  of 
the  Exodus,  the  wonders  wrought  in  Egypt,  and  the 
destruction  of  Pharaoh.  If  there  were  many  boys 
and  girls  present,  the  speaker  invariably  added  some- 
thing like  a  direct  admonition  suited  to  their  under- 
standing : 

*'  Children,  we  were  all  servants,  like  this  maid- 
servant, or  like  this  man-servant,  that  waiteth  ;  and 
on  this  night,  many  years  ago,  the  Lord  redeemed  us 
and  brought  to  us  liberty  from,  our  bondage." 

Then  the  table  was  brought  back  into  the  cham- 
ber once  more,  and  a  second  cup  of  wine  was  poured 
out.  The  president  of  the  feast,  holding  up  the 
roasted  lamb,  continued  his  discourse :  *'  This  is  the 
Passover  which  we  eat  in  respect  that  the  Lord 
passed  over  the  houses  of  our  fathers  in  the  land  of 
Egypt."  In  like  manner  he  held  up  the  horehound, 
the  wild  lettuce,  and  the  coriander;  the  use  of  these 
he  explained  also  :  *'  These  are  the  bitter  herbs  which 
we  eat  in  remembrance  that  the  Egyptians  made  the 
lives  of  our  fathers  bitter  in  bondage."  When  the 
unleavened  bread  was  reached,  he  dwelt  upon  the 
necessity  that  each  one  should  try  to  make  the  rem- 
iniscence personal   and   religious  :     **  This  is   the  un- 


SIMON'S    FIRST   PASSOVER.  6l 

leavened  bread  which  we  eat  in  remembrance  that 
our  fathers'  dough  had  not  had  time  to  be  leavened 
before  the  Lord  showed  himself  for  their  redemption 
from  the  hand  of  the  enemy." 

This  discourse  ended — and  it  certainly  shows  just 
where  our  Saviour  might  introduce  his  lengthened 
forms  of  address  which  the  beloved  disciple  records 
— the  whole  company  entered  into  a  united  form  of 
thanksgiving  :  "  Therefore  are  we  bound  to  confess, 
to  praise,  to  adore,  to  glorify,  to  extol,  to  honor,  to 
bless,  to  exalt,  to  reverence  Him  who  for  our  fore- 
fathers and  for  us  wrought  all  these  miracles,  for  he 
brought  us  forth  from  bondage  into  freedom.  He 
changed  our  sorrow  into  joy,  our  mourning  into  a 
feast.  He  led  us  out  of  darkness  into  a  great  light, 
and  from  servitude  to  redemption.  Let  us  sing  there- 
fore in  his  presence,  Hallelujah,  praise  ye  the  Lord !" 

Then  the  first  part  of  the  Great  Hallel  was  sung. 
Psalms  hundred  and  thirteenth  and  fourteenth.  At 
this  time,  also,  they  drank  the  second  cup  of  wine, 
and  the  master  carefully  washed  his  hands  again. 
It  is  well  to  distinguish  these  cups  of  wine,  and  keep 
their  order  in  mind.  The  Talmud  prescribed  that 
there  should  be  four  of  them  at  least,  even  if  the 
man  should  '*  receive  the  money  from  the  box  for  the 
poor."  It  was  added  that  if  anyone  could  not  obtain 
the  wine  otherwise  *'  he  must  sell  or  pawn  his  coat  or 
hire  himself  out  for  these  four  cups."  With  what  pro- 
priety does  the  papal  church  deny  wine  to  the  laity  ? 

Now,  taking  a  cake  of  the  unleavened  bread,  the 
presiding  leader  broke   it  in  pieces,   saying  at  the 


62  SIMON    peter: 

same  time  the  form  which  was  called  "  the  blessing" 
of  the  bread:  "  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  the 
king  of  the  universe,  who  bringest  forth  fruit  from  the 
earth!"  He  then  gave  to  each  person  a  fragment  to 
eat.  This  any  one  could  dip,  if  he  desired,  in  the 
vessel  of  sauce  before  him.  While  they  were  eating, 
the  master  said:  "  This  is  the  bread  of  affliction  which 
our  fathers  did  eat  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  This  will 
easily  be  recognized  as  the  point  in  the  service  at  which 
our  Lord  gave  the  '*sop"  to  Judas.  This  traitor, 
therefore,  did  not  partake  of  the  paschal  lamb;  he 
went  immediately  out. 

Then  came  the  eating  of  the  Passover.  The  festi- 
val might  be  kept  up  till  within  an  hour  of  midnight; 
then  by  rule  it  must  end.  The  lamb  was  carved  so 
as  not  to  divide  a  joint  or  break  a  bone.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  company  would  be  so  constructed  as 
to  consume  the  whole.  Ten  persons  might  be 
grouped  around  one  table ;  sometimes  there  were 
twenty.  Whatever  was  left  must  be  burned  that  same 
night. 

Immediately  after  this,  the  third  cup  was  offered. 
Here,  if  at  any  point  in  particular,  the  Passover 
glided  wholly  over  into  the  Lord's  Supper.  For  this  in 
all  the  Jewish  ritual  was  called,  as  Paul  calls  it_,  *'the 
cup  of  blessing."  A  special  benediction  was  invoked 
upon  it.  The  Talmud  exalts  it  as  in  ten  particulars 
the  chief  cup  of  the  feast.  And  to  this  day,  in  every 
Israelitlsh  dwelling,  when  this  third  cup  has  been 
drunk,  the  door  is  flung  wide  open  to  admit  Elijah  as 
the  Messiah's  forerunner  and  herald. 


SIMON'S    FIRST   TASSOVER.  '6^ 

Now  came  a  lengthy  prayer  and  ascription  of 
praise.  Then  the  remainder  of  the  Hallel  was  sung: 
Psalms  hundred  and  fifteenth  to  eighteenth;  and  the 
feast  concluded  with  a  fourth  and  final  cup.  It  is  likely 
that  this  was  the  "hymn"  at  the  Lord's  Supper. 
And  if  the  conjecture  be  correct,  that  Jesus  meant  to 
give  his  feast  a  forward  reach  by  omitting  the  closing 
cup  till  he  should  meet  all  his  people  in  the  "king- 
dom of  God,"  then  this  was  the  point  where  the 
intercessory  prayer  was  delivered,  and  the  solemn 
departure  to  Gethsemane  begun. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  just  here,  that  in  reciting  this 
portion  of  the  Hallel,  the  Jews  always  repeat  those 
words  applied  with  such  force  by  Christ  to  himself  in 
connection  with  his  parable  of  the  wicked  husband- 
man: "The  stone  which  the  builders  refused  is  be- 
come the  head  stone  of  the  corner.  This  is  the  Lord's 
doing;    it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes." 

For  the  first  evening  there  is  arranged  a  rehearsal 
of  the  "abundant  miracles"  that  God  has  performed 
in  the  night.  Such  instances  are  cited  as  that  Abra- 
ham conquered  when  he  divided  his  company  at 
night,  Israel  wrestled  and  overcame  at  night,  the 
Syrian  was  terrified  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  Daniel 
was  delivered  from  the  lions  at  night,  etc.  These 
instances  are  arranged  in  seven  groups,  each  of  which 
is  introduced  by  the  set  form  of  sentence  :  "And  it 
came  to  pass  at  midnight." 

A  similar  recitative  is  prepared  with  reference  to 
the  mighty  power  displayed  by  God  at  the  passover, 
each  section  of  which  has  the  introductory  sentence, 


64  •  SIMON    TETER  : 

"And  ye  shall  say,  This  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  pass- 
over."  Among  the  miracles  mentioned  as  occurring 
in  connection  with  this  feast,  are,  that  God  appeared 
to  Abraham  in  the  heat  of  the  day  at  that  time ;  that 
then  the  patriarch  fed  the  angels  with  unleavened 
cakes  ;  that  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  were  destroyed 
at  the  passover ;  Lot  was  delivered,  who  baked  un- 
leavened cakes  for  the  passover;  Midian  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  cake  of  barley  bread,  like  the  offering 
of  an  omer  of  barley  in  the  passover;  Haman  was 
executed  at  the  passover,  etc. 

A  prayer  for  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  concludes 
the  service,  after  which  it  is  declared  that  the  pass- 
over  is  now  accomplished,  according  to  its  order,  for- 
malities, and  customs,  the  declaration  ending  with  an 
ejaculatory  appeal  to  God  to  hasten  to  lead  the  re- 
deemed to  Zion. 

Can  it  not  be  seen  now,  from  this  rehearsal,  that 
the  young  children,  and  especially  this  boy  Simon — 
if  it  be  true,  as  we  imagined,  that  he  took  part  in  the 
service — would  gain  a  lesson  never  to  be  forgotten 
upon  these  passover  days?  It  was  all  one  great 
splendid  parable.  It  told  him  of  the  Messiah,  who 
was  the  Paschal  Lamb,  not  for  Israel  only,  but  for  all 
humankind. 

We  sometimes  ask  how  much  the  ancient  people  of 
God  knew  concerning  the  gospel,  as  it  was  afterwards 
more  fully  exhibited  when  Jesus  came.  It  is  evident 
that  they  saw  the  Saviour  in  the  types.  And  here 
particularly,  every  one  could  have  said  with  the  apos- 
tle, "For  even  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JUDAS  THE  GAULONITE. 

*' Nothing  falsifies  history  more  than  logic,"  says 
Guizot;  ''when  the  mind  rests  on  one  idea,  it  draws 
all  possible  consequences,  and  makes  it  produce  all 
that  it  could  produce;  then  it  represents  it  in  history 
with  all  this  attendance.  But  it  is  not  so  that  the 
world  moves.  Events  are  not  so  quick  in  their  de- 
ductions as  the  human  mind  is  in  the  deductions  it 
makes." 

Here,  now,  we  are  trying  to  show,  if  we  can,  how 
much  the  fashioning  of  Simon  Peter's  character  is  due 
to  the  political  and  moral  events  of  those  years 
through  which  he  passed  in  his  youth  and  opening 
manhood.  We  maybe  in  error  all  the  time;  w^e  may 
imagine  him  a  thoughtful  and  stirring  patriot,  or  we 
might  simply  class  him  among  the  dull  fishermen 
who  plied  the  same  trade,  and  left  the  world  to  run 
on  in  its  grooves  as  best  it  could.  It  is  hard,  how- 
ever, to  think  of  him  as  tame  or  unobservant,  and 
harder  still  as  torpid  and  plodding,  while  great  pur- 
poses were  rising  and  falling  around  him,  full  of  ex- 
citement. 

There  were  certainly  two  important  facts  which 
swept  out  into  his  range  of  vision  about  this  period 
of  his  hfe.  The  nation,  for  one  thing,  was  agitated 
by  the  tidings  of  the  death  of  the  king  himself  This 
event  must  have  created  a  profound  impression  among 
the  Bethsaida  people,  because  it  took  place  within 


65  SIMON    PETEU: 

reach  of  their  particular  range;  details  came  to  them 
easily. 

Such  a  catastrophe  had  been  anticipated;  for  it  was 
known  in  all  the  region  that  Herod  had  been  smitten 
with  an  awful  and  incurable  disease.  He  was  eaten 
by  worms,  ulcerated  and  foul  with  indescribable  sore- 
ness and  loathsome  corruption.  A  series  of  lonely 
journeys  for  relief  had  been  commenced,  but  with  no 
success. 

Near  Bethlehem,  even  to  the  present  day,  is  pointed 
out  a  singular  conical  hill,  called  the  "Frank  Moun- 
tain." On  its  summit,  many  years  before,  this  mon- 
arch had  builded  a  .royal  palace.  There  he  had 
slept,  while — all  unconsciously  to  him — the  true 
Prince  of  the  House  of  David  had  been  born  just  be- 
low him,  and  almost  under  the  sweep  of  his  outlook, 
in  the  manger  of  an  inn.  But  now  Herod,  with  a 
mind  full  of  murder  and  a  body  full  of  pain,  could 
only  find  in  its  splendor  food  for  remorse.  Visions 
of  coming  retribution  filled  his  nights  with  dreams 
till  he  cried  out  in  fright. 

Indeed,  there  was  enough  to  torment  him  before 
his  time,  already  recorded  in  the  dreadful  chapters  of 
his  biography.  Perhaps  no  man  ever  lived,  whose 
name  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  ages,  who 
was  the  actual  embodiment  of  more  of  the  execrable 
attributes  of  our  vilest  human  nature  than  was  this 
man  Herod — whom  a  matchless  sarcasm  has  some- 
times called  "The  Great." 

He  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  murder.  The  Beth- 
lehem  infants  were  by   no   means  his   chief  victims. 


JUDAS    THE    GAULONITE.  6/ 

Priests  had  died  under  his  imperial  mandate  for  no 
other  crime  than  being  In  his  way.  Nobles  openly- 
accused  of  nothing  had  been  beheaded  In  his  passion 
of  jealousy.  Aristobulus,  his  brother-in-law,  had 
been  drowned,  and  the  wickedness  of  such  a  wrong 
passed  off  as  a  joke.  He  slew  three  of  his  own 
sons,  his  uncle,  his  wife's  mother,  her  father,  and 
her  uncle.  He  never  loved  but  one  being,  Marlamne ; 
of  her  he  grew  repeatedly  suspicious,  and  at  last  In  a 
burst  of  wrath  commanded  her  death  by  strangulation. 
He  was  thus  treacherous  to  all  his  confidants  and 
friends.  He  exercised  his  diabolical  ingenuity  In  the 
invention  of  new  modes  and  fresh  forms  of  execution, 
and  tested  each  by  a  sort  of  experiment  on  those 
who  stood  next  to  him.  Assassinations  were  his 
daily  indulgence.  Some  victims  he  caused  to  be  cut 
in  two,  some  he  burned,  some  he  suffocated,  some 
he  tortured. 

Two  notable  sayings  are  recorded  concerning  his 
life,  as  graphic  as  they  are  terrible.  Some  messen- 
gers were  sent  in  desperate  straits  to  make  complaint 
to  the  Emperor.  These  declared  that  the  condition 
of  things  in  Palestine  was  intolerable.  They  reported 
a  panic  of  fear  everywhere.  No  one  knew  whose 
turn  would  come  next.  They  said  that  the  citizens 
were  kept  in  such  apprehension  "  that  the  survivors 
were  more  wretched  than  the  sufferers."  And  it  is 
averred  that  the  reply  of  Augustus  was  this:  "  It 
seems  to  be  better  that  one  should  be  Herod's  pig 
than  his  son."  It  is  probable  that  he  meant  by  this 
to  intimate  that  a  pig  was  the  safer  of  the  two,  be- 


6S  SIMON  peter: 

cause  Herod,  being  a  very  devout  Jew  meanwhile, 
would  not  touch  a  swine,  while  he  could  kill  his  chil- 
dren with  a  relish. 

Now,  in  anticipation  of  the  death  of  this  monster, 
the  whole  province  was  convulsed  with  tidings  of  re- 
volts among  the  oppressed  people.  Two  famous 
teachers  of  the  law,  in  some  explosion  of  frantic  zeal, 
tore  away  the  large  eagle  of  gold  which  Herod  had 
placed  over  the  gate  of  the  temple.  They  were  im- 
mediately caught,  and  in  company  with  forty  adher- 
ents were  burned  alive  at  Jerusalem. 

At  last  the  end  came.  Herod  appears  to  have 
been  almost  maddened  by  his  sufferings,  combined 
with  his  alarm  at  immediate  retribution.  He  made 
one  more  effort  for  relief;  across  the  Dead  Sea  he 
sought  the  hot  springs  of  Callirrhoe.  Meanwhile  he 
kept  speaking  to  Mariamne  as  if  she  were  yet  alive ; 
he  forced  his  attendants  to  talk  about  her  as  still 
living.  Haunted  by  the  spectres  of  the  relatives  he 
had  slain,  he  broke  out  often  into  exclamations  of 
anguish  and  mortal  fright.  He  was  inwardly  burn- 
ing with  a  continual  fever,  yet  he  could  take  no 
water  for  his  thirst.  He  could  not  even  lie  down, 
because  of  a  shortness  of  breath.  Spasms  racked  his 
Avhole  body,  already  sore  beyond  endurance.  Jose- 
phus  appears  to  be  almost  elate,  and  is  certainly  pic- 
turesque, in  his  descriptions. 

The  warm  baths  did  the  king  no  good.  Physi- 
cians ordered  his  whole  person  to  be  fomented  with 
oil ;  they  let  him  down  into  a  vessel  of  that  fluid,  but 
on   the  instant   his  eyes  became  relaxed,  and  he  fell 


JUDAS    THE    GAULOXITE.  69 

back  suddenly,  as  if  he  were  dead.  He  revived 
under  their  cries  for  help,  but  from  that  time  he  de- 
spaired of  recovery.  Then  he  pretended  he  was 
going  back  to  Jerusalem,  but  turned  aside  into 
Jericho,  oppressed  with  the  deepest  melancholy. 
But  his  heart  was  foul  with  the  purpose  of  another 
crime,  atrocious  as  ever. 

Assembling  the  men  of  distinction  from  all  the 
Judaean  villages,  he  thrust  them  under  guard  in  the 
Hippodrome.  These  he  pledged  his  sister  Salome 
and  her  husband  Alexas  to  put  to  death  immediately, 
when  he  should  expire.  He  declared  his  purpose  in 
this  terrible  slaughter  to  be  to  make  every  house  in 
Judaea  weep  over  him. 

So  now,  in  his  splendid  palace  by  the  Jordan,  built 
under  the  shade  in  the  City  of  Palms,  Herod  the 
Great  lay  dying.  He  had  only  six  more  days  to 
live.  But  even  that  afforded  space  for  a  suicide. 
Calling  for  a  knife  to  slice  an  apple,  he  suddenly 
sought  a  quicker  death  by  stabbing  himself,  but  his 
cousin  saved  his  hfe. 

Still  there  remained  time  for  another  murder.  His 
son  Antipater  was  in  prison.  Spitefully  imagining 
he  would  be  glad  to  take  the  kingdom,  this  inhuman 
father  sent  command  that  he  be  instantly  dispatched 
by  spearmen.  This  assassination  appears  to  have 
been  a  success. 

A  few  hours  before  he  drew  his  last  breath,  Salome 
ran  out  among  the  soldiers  to  order  the  release  of 
the  citizens  confined  in  the  Hippodrome,  saying  the 
king  had  changed  his  mind. 


70 


SIMON  teter: 


No  :  Herod  had  not  changed  his  mind,  but  he 
had  changed  worlds.  After  seventy  years  of  triumph 
in  hist,  villainy,  and  murder,  this  prince  of  tyrants 
went  forth  alone  to  meet  his  future  and  his  God. 

Such  events  as  these  would  rush  easily  up  the  Jordan 
valley,  and  reach  the  ears  of  Galilean  peasants.  We 
must  understand  that  not  only  the  luxurious  nobles, 
whose  barges  of  pleasure,  with  great  white  sails  of 
splendor  shining,  swept  out  of  the  port  at  Tiberias 
upon  the  lake  of  Gennesaret,  but  the  humble  fisher- 
men, also,  whose  modest  boats  brought  them  food  for 
daily  life  from  the  same  waters,  would  hear  and  be 
moved  by  such  news.  Revolutions  now  seemed  just 
on  ahead.  Favorites  were  trembling  in  their  places. 
Corrupt  officers  of  the  government  might  soon  expect 
to  be  brought  to  account.  The  nation,  oppressed 
beyond  endurance,  would  certainly  be  incited  into 
risings  against  rulers,  perhaps  Roman  and  Jewish  alike. 

The  presage  was  true.  Forth  from  Gaulonitis — the 
region  in  the  rear  of  Gennesaret — came  Judas,  head- 
ing a  wild  insurrection,  and  setting  the  whole  northern 
country  in  an  uproar.  That  was  a  second  great  event 
within  Simon  Peter's  range.  This  is  that  Judas  to 
whose  adventures  Gamaliel  alluded  in  his  speech,  when 
the  apostles  were  arraigned  before  the  council.  He 
mentioned  a  malcontent  by  the  name  of  Theudas, 
who  came  to  nothing ;  and  then  added,  ''  After  this 
man  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee,  in  the  days  of  the  tax- 
ing, and  drew  away  much  people  after  him  ;  he  also 
perished ;  and  all,  even  as  many  as  obeyed  him,  were 
dispersed." 


JUDAS   THE   GAULONITE.  /I 

Gamaliel  called  him  ''Judas  of  Galilee,"  because  his 
military  exploits  were  performed  in  Galilee.  There, 
also,  was  the  scene  of  his  devastation  and  final  subjec- 
tion. But  the  man  originated  among  the  mountains 
of  Golan  or  Gaulonitis,  the  land  of  a  resolute  and  hardy- 
race,  forth  from  which  great  leaders  came  now  and 
then  along  the  ages ;  men  like  Elijah  the  Tishbite, 
like  Jephthah  the  Gileadite;  full  of  force,  but  not 
always  actuated  by  the  best  purpose. 

Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  was  getting  along  in  life  now, 
growing  old  enough  to  think.  And  we  need  to  know, 
when  we  find  strong  elements  in  his  character  here- 
after, that  there  were  tempestuous  periods  of  history 
when  he  acquired  them.  Many  mistakes  may  be 
made  about  Jesus'  disciples,  by  those  who  imagine 
they  were  a  tranquilly  educated  group  of  rustics,  out- 
side of  the  world  for  forty  years. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  just  where  this  Judas 
ought  to  be  registered.  The  name  of  Judas  always 
arouses  unusual  sensation.  It  has  a  curious  history, 
and  brings  with  it  mixed  associations  to  our  minds. 
Judas  Maccabeus — that  was  a  name  full  of  valor 
heroic  and  heroism  unavailing.  Judas  from  Kerioth 
— that  is  a  name  crowded  with  treason  and  shame  of 
suicide.  Judas,  the  brother  of  James — called,  in  one 
pathetic  parenthesis,  "  not  Iscariot " — that  name  is 
full  of  fidelity  and  honor,  borne  by  a  true  disciple. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  to  find  out  the  real  facts 
of  history  in  those  troublous  times.  There  is  always 
in  every  disturbed  country  a  class  of  men  whose 
patriotisrn  needs  to   be  studied.      They    like   peace 


'ji  SIMON  peter: 

when  money  can  be  made  by  it.  They  are  sure  to 
be  calm  whenever  others  endure  the  weight  of  oppres- 
sions. Any  existing  order  of  things  is  accepted 
cheerfully,  if  it  offers  places  for  such  industry  in  office 
as  they  feel  they  can  supply.  With  such  people 
Galilee  was  crowded  for  many  years  after  Herod's 
decease.  Indeed,  the  great  sufferings  of  the  Jews  did 
not  come  from  the  Romans  ;  for  the  tribute  demanded 
was  not  always  excessive  for  frugal  people. 

But  men  of  their  own  nation  accepted  the  position 
of  tax-collectors.  This  was  unpopular,  and  the 
creatures  were  hated  cordially.  The  offices  were 
sought  for  gain,  and  used  for  extortion,  so  that  fresh 
levies  only  afforded  new  opportunities  for  renegade 
Israelites  to  cheat  their  neighbors,  and  grow  rich  out 
of  what  they  pretended  they  transmitted  to  Rome. 
Hence  the  places  were  sold  at  convenience,  and  the 
revenues  were  vitiated  by  bribes.  Publicans,  as  they 
were  called,  were  dissolute  and  profligate  in  social 
life ;  yet  no  one  dared  offend  them.  The  posture  of 
affairs  became  finally  unbearable.  The  priesthood 
yielded  to  the  pressure,  and  interposed  no  defences 
for  the  oppressed.  They  preached  peace,  and  set  out 
to  make  money  like  the  rest.  Lawlessness  prevailed 
everywhere.  Entire  districts  were  overrun  with  rob- 
bers and  organized  banditti. 

Whether  this  Gaulonite  Judas  was  a  true  patriot — 
or  whether  he  was  what  in  one  of  our  modern 
languages  is  called  a  'malignant',  and  in  another  an 
*  irreconcileable ;'  or  whether  he  was  simply  an  ordi- 
nary freebooter  from  the  hills,   or  whether  he  was  a 


JUDAS   THE    GAULOXITE.  73 

religious  zealot  inflamed  by  enthusiasm  of  Pharisee 
piety,  cannot  be  stated.  The  annals  of  Josephus  are 
not  trustworthy,  though  perhaps  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  they  are  the  best  we  have.  This  man  is  an 
enigma  himself,  for  he  was  a  parasite  and  an  intriguer. 
Now  on  the  patriot  side,  and  now  with  the  oppres- 
sors, Josephus  was,  in  a  single  sense,  the  Talleyrand 
of  his  times.  He  managed  to  remain  in  favor  with  all 
those  dynasties  through  the  risings  and  fallings  of 
which  he  passed.  Such  a  career  put  him  on  a  constant 
defence.  His  history  is  always  forced.  He  crowds 
in  much  and  omits  more. 

The  best  account  of  Judas  is  found  in  one  of 
Origen's  Homilies.  It  appears  that  he  had  been  a 
brigand  chief  and  an  outlaw  in  previous  times.  Now 
he  came  forth  in  the  character  of  a  patriotic  deliverer 
of  his  nation  from  the  sway  of  foreigners.  To  this 
some  say  he  added  a  religious  cast,  declaring  that  he 
took  the  sword  for  the  purity  of  the  church  as  well  as 
the  freedom  of  the  land.  He  claimed  the  severest 
austerity  in  morals,  the  most  rigid  performance 
of  duty,  the  loftiest  zeal  of  a  true  defender  of  the 
faith.  Much  aid  was  brought  to  his  cause  by  the  as- 
sociation with  him  of  a  Pharisee  called  Sadoc.  The 
insurgents  avowed  as  their  aim  nothing  short  of  a 
re-establishment  of  the  Jewish  theocracy,  and  hence 
disowned  every  form  of  government  which  did  not 
come  directly  from  high  heaven.  They  chose  as 
their  war-cry  one  of  the  watchwords  of  the  Macca- 
bees, which  so  thrilled  the  people:  "We  have  no 
Lord  nor  Master  but  God." 


74  SIMON  peter: 

It  Is  said  that  the  eloquence  of  this  Judas  was  elec- 
tric. A  vast  number  of  excited  men  rallied  around 
his  standard,  won  by  the  magic  of  his  voice.  Some 
went  so  far  as  to  proclaim  him  as  the  expected  Mes- 
siah, foretold  by  the  prophets,  and  now  made  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.  The  occasion  of  a  new  tax  gave  him 
a  violent  theme  for  harangues,  and  was  announced  as 
the  signal  for  hostilities.  He  declared  against  all 
rendering  of  tribute  to  Rome  as  a  slavery  and  a 
shame.  Calling  upon  the  people  to  rise  In  arms  for 
resistance,  he  swept  through  Galilee  like  lightning 
and  flame.  That  entire  northern  country  was  given 
over  for  a  while  to  the  horde  of  depredators  which 
followed  him.  They  tore  away  the  vines  from  their 
trelllsses,  and  stamped  the  corn-fields  under  foot.  They 
sacked  the  cities  In  sheer  recklessness  of  ruin,  and  de- 
stroyed the  towns  of  those  quiet  peasants  who 
refused  to  join  them.  Local  forces  were  at  the  first 
unequal  to  cope  with  them;  and,  during  months  of 
dismay,  these  wild  outlaws  ravaged  the  province, 
leaving  desolation  in  their  train. 

It  can  readily  be  conjectured  what  impressions 
these  tumults  would  produce  on  a  simple  hamlet  of 
fishermen  like  Bethsaida,  Innocently  caught  In  the 
exact  center  of  the  frays.  If  Simon  had  been  a  half- 
dozen  years  older,  we  may  be  sure  he  would  have 
been  found  brandishing  some  sort  of  sword  in  the 
ranks  of  Judas.  For  in  that  movement  there  was 
just  enough  mixture  of  right  and  wrong  to  bewilder 
a  man  so  Impulsive  in  either  direction  as  he  was.  For 
here  at  the  outset  was  the  Hope  of  the  world,  pos- 


JUDAS   THE   GAULONITE.  75 

sibly  the  Messiah  in  person;  here  was  a  champion 
for  the  poor;  here  was  a  patriot,  stern  as  fate,  and 
apparently  incorruptible.  It  is  in  evidence  that 
Judas  communicated  his  fiery  temper  to  his  adher- 
ents. They  were  occasionally  defeated  in  skirmishes; 
some  were  caught  and  put  to  cruel  torture  of  rack 
and  cross ;  but  not  one  was  known  to  quail. 

The  destruction  went  on.  The  bands  of  marauders 
made  havoc  specially  in  the  temples  which  the  pagan 
idolaters  had  builded  and  in  which  they  conducted 
their  heathen  rites.  Battle  after  battle  thinned  their 
numbers;  but  still  the  volunteers  increased.  Wounded 
and  dying  soldiers  were  brought  into  the  villages 
along  the  borders  of  Lake  Gennesaret.  Humane 
efforts  were  needed  to  succor  or  to  bury  them.  Zeb- 
edee  and  Jonas,  perhaps  Salome  and  Johanna,  may 
have  been  summoned  to  minister  help.  Simon  was 
near  twenty  years  of  age.  He  must  have  known  and 
pondered  these  things  by  himself 

But  there  could  be  only  one  end  to  this  contest. 
It  was  unequal  from  the  beginning,  and  must  close  in 
blood.  The  Roman  military  organization  was  too 
much  for  these  undisciplined  enthusiasts.  One  tre- 
mendous engagement,  which  filled  the  neighborhood 
with  wailing,  brought  ultimate  defeat.  Judas  was 
slain;  and  Cyrenius,  sent  for  his  subjection,  tri- 
umphed easily  over  the  scattered  zealots. 

But  it  was  half  a  century  before  the  traces  of  this 
outbreak  were  erased.  A  party  continued  to  raise 
the  standard  of  this  lost  cause.  Two  sons  of  Judas, 
named   James  and   John,    started    the   insurrection 


76  SIMON  peter: 

afresh  many  years  later;  they  were  arrested  and 
crucified.  Then,  a  score  of  years  after  that,  another 
son  took  up  the  standard.  He  assumed  the  style  of  a 
king,  and  committed  enormities.  But  the  authorities 
soon  overcame  his  weak  defences,  and  he  went  the 
melancholy  way  of  the  rest  of  his  family;  he  was 
tortured  to  death. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

TWENTY  TROUBLED  YEARS. 

Just  note  this:  the  revolt  of  Judas  the  Gaulonite 
occurred  not  far  from  what  we  call  A.  D.  6.  From 
that  date  to  A.  D.  26,  not  one  word  is  found  any- 
where to  give  us  help  in  Simon  Peter's  biography. 
Yet  was  the  man  growing  towards  his  work. 

Perhaps  it  is  this  very  vagueness  of  those  unchron- 
icled  twenty  years  which  piques  our  curiosity  so  much. 
That  simple  Gennesaret  life  seems  fascinating,  and  our 
interest  kindles  the  more  in  any  circumstances  of  it 
which  do  come  to  light,  somewhat  in  proportion  to 
their  rareness.  A  strong  conviction  fastens  itself  in 
our  minds  that  Simon's  character,  as  we  afterwards 
learn  it,  is  the  result — a  sort  of  embodiment — of  the 
times  in  which  he  began  to  exist,  to  grow  and  to 
think.      In  one  sense,  he  interprets  his  age. 

We  find  Peter  impulsive,  irregular,  and  uncertain. 
And  this  much  is  plain:  that  these  periods  of  Hebrew 
history,  lying  between  Jesus'  visit  to  Jerusalem  at  the 
age  of  twelve,  and  his  appearance  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan  at  thirty,  were  the  fltfullest  and  most  tur- 
bulent in  moral  vicissitudes  that  Palestine  ever  knew. 

Politically,  the  Jewish  nation  was  as  badly  off  as 
could  be.  The  kingdom  of  Judah  was  subdued,  lo- 
cal government  was  denied,  the  Romans  ruled  the 
land.  Josephus  gives  this  testimony:  he  says  there 
were  **ten  thousand  disorders  in  Judaea;"  he  adds, 
that  the  country  was  "full  of  robberies;"  he  gives  his 


73  SIMON  peter: 

deliberate  estimate  of  the  general  misery,  that,  *'at  no 
time  of  their  history,  not  even  after  their  return  from 
exile,  had  the  nation  been  more  wretched." 

Socially,  the  foundations  were  broken  up.  License 
was  rampant  over  the  province.  Theft  was  unrebuked. 
The  Bedouin  lost  his  pre-eminence  as  a  freebooter  and 
brigand.  Rascality  rode  in  a  gilded  chariot,  and  lev- 
ied unreckoned  taxes.  Conscience  was  dead.  A  cyn- 
ical paganism  laughed  at  the  devotees  that  came  to 
the  prurient  shrines  for  real  comfort  in  trouble.  Phi- 
losophy had  no  word  of  information  to  give.  Lust 
wrote  records  and  sang  songs  that  in  an  age  like  ours 
it  is  just  as  well  decent  people  should  not  quote. 

Religiously,  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse.  Even 
the  high  priesthood  could  be  so  shifted  from  man  to 
man,  through  all  those  disturbed  years  before  and 
after  this,  that  a  common  believer  was  to  be  pardoned 
if  he  "wist  not"  who  happened,  for  the  moment,  to 
be  in  the  place  of  the  Lord's  anointed.  The  Great 
Court  was  prostrate  in  venal  subservience  to  tetrarchs 
and  proconsuls,  who  with  manipulation  of  the  sects 
could  render  the  Sanhedrin  a  sham.  None  thought 
of  a  reformation  of  manners;  for  thought  was  bewil- 
dered in  the  public  mind,  when  bad  men  did  all  the 
thinking.  Humanity,  as  it  was  at  that  period,  has 
been  compared  to  old  eyeless  Orion,  trying  to  grope 
his  way  to  the  abode  of  the  sun.  And  certainly  there 
was  one  particular  of  resemblance — its  only  guide  was 
astumbhng  messenger  from  the  midst  of  infernal  fire. 

Three  sects  of  the  Jews  then  wrestled  with  each 
other  for  supremacy — the  Pharisees,  the   Sadducees, 


TWENTY  TROUBLED   YEARS.  79 

and  the  Essenes.  Of  these  last  no  mention  is  made 
in  the  Scriptures.  They  were  a  sort  of  ascetic  sect, 
occupying  a  position  between  the  other  two;  retreat- 
ing into  solitudes,  claiming  special  endowments,  hold- 
ing their  possessions  in  common,  wielding  a  power  in 
either  direction;  but  they  did  not  often  come  along- 
side of  the  line  of  Christian  Instruction,  nor  of  rebuke. 
So  they  never  appear  In  the  New  Testament. 

The  Sadducees  were  a  sect  which  embraced  most 
of  the  skeptical  cavllers  of  that  time.  It  required  some 
ability  and  education  to  hold  a  position  among  them, 
for  their  opinions  were  tenuous  and  subtle.  They 
rejected  all  doctrines  of  immortality,  and  of  course 
denied  the  sanctions  of  divine  rewards  and  punish- 
ments. They  professed  to  believe  men  had  no  souls; 
they  declared  there  were  no  angels  in  this  world  or 
out  of  it.  Those  passages  of  the  Old  Testament 
which  speak  of  celestial  beings  they  forced  out  of 
meaning  by  a  kind  of  process  resembling  modern  ra- 
tionalism. 

The  Pharisees  composed  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple. Founders  of  this  ancient  sect  became  strongly 
tinctured  in  their  tenets  with  Persian  orientalism, 
while  their  system  was  in  process  of  formation  during 
the  Babylonish  captivity.  Their  doctrinal  belief  as- 
sumed the  Bible  to  be  the  source  of  all  knowledge  of 
God,  but  they  grafted  innumerable  traditions  upon  its 
precepts.  Hence  they  frequently  obscured  its  plain 
meaning,  and  sometimes  contradicted  it. 

Even  this  slight  analysis    of  those  creeds  will  ex- 
plain exactly  why  we  hear  more  of  the  Pharisees  in 
4* 


8o  SIMON  peter: 

the  gospel  history  and  of  the  Sadducees  in  the  apos- 
toHc.  Christ  himself  preached  piety  and  morality, 
laying  stress  on  practical  duties.  So  it  could  not 
fail  to  be  that  he  should  attack  the  sleek  self-satisfac- 
tion and  formal  routine  of  these  hypocrites,  who 
wasted  so  much  of  their  time  upon  making  clean  the 
outside  of  the  cup  and  platter,  while  within  they  were 
full  of  extortion  and  excess.  But  it  became  neces- 
sary, just  a  few  years  later,  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
a  proper  theology  for  an  increasing  church.  The 
apostles  had  need  to  preach  doctrines,  and  in  partic- 
ular the  one  new  and  exti;aordinary  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  from  the  dead,  and  the  life 
everlasting.  This  was  an  abrupt  and  uncompromising 
attack  upon  the  tenets  of  the  Sadducees.  So  our 
Lord  offended  the  Pharisees  by  denouncing  their 
ineffable  meanness  and  falsehood  ;  and  the  apostles 
offended  the  Sadducees  by  denouncing  their  wretched 
free-thinking  and   unbelief 

Leaving  the  Essenes  out  of  sight,  therefore,  it  is 
evident  enough  that  the  two  great  characteristics  of 
the  age  were  formalism  and  infidelity.  Speculative 
doubt  made  the  Sadducee  a  trivial  censor  of  others, 
with  no  faith  of  his  own,  a  light-hearted,  frivolous 
sensualist,  with  a  supercilious  contempt  for  those  who 
were  not  advanced  thinkers,  as  he  comfortably  as- 
serted Sadducees  must  always  be  understood  to  be. 
And  spiritual  pride  of  orthodoxy  rendered  the  Phari- 
see a  hard  aristocrat  among  men  and  a  noisome  hyp- 
ocrite with  God.  He  magnified  the  letter  and  lost 
the  spirit ;  and  this  was   an  evil  result  all  the  more 


TWENTY   TROUBLED  YEARS.  8 1 

fatal,  because  it  happened  that  Pharisees  had  added 
to  what  they  called  the  letter  some  coarser  composi- 
tions of  their  own.  Personal  religion  more  abso- 
lutely dead  never  existed.  The  very  name  is  the 
symbol  of  a  dreary  sanctimoniousness. 

So  the  picture  of  Simon's  life  from  the  time  he 
entered  that  twenty-years'  toil  as  a  fisherman,  to 
the  day  when  he  emerged  from  his  obscurity  at  forty 
years,  down  by  the  Jordan,  is  not  happy.  The  Arabs 
of  to-day  are  accustomed  to  say  in  the  East,  when 
any  one  starts  out  on  a  journey  with  no  particular 
destination,  or  without  being  told  whither  he  is  bound, 
"  He  is  going  towards  God's  gate."  That  bewilder- 
ed Jewish  nation  was  going  whither  it  knew  not — 
that  was  perfectly  clear  then.  And  it  is  perfectly 
clear  now  that  the  race  of  man  was  unconsciously 
on  the  same  transit,  going  directly  towards  the  door 
of  God's  mercy,  soon  to  open  for  the  King  coming  in 
his  beauty,  and  the  land  he  was  coming  to  was  not 
very  far  off. 

Yet  still  there  was  a  remnant.  That  brings  us  to 
one  of  the  finest  disclosures  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  omniscient  God  never  has  left  himself  without  a 
witness  on  the  earth.  Scattered  around  among  the 
towns  and  villages  there  were  to  be  found  many 
spiritual  believers  like  Nathanael,  Israelites  indeed,  in 
whom  was  no  guile. 

Most  of  us  will  remember  that  old  Jerusalem  Jew 
who  came  into  the  Temple  at  the  presentation  of 
Jesus,  and  took  up  the  infant  child  in  his  arms,  bless- 
ing God  for  having  shown  him  his  salvation. 


82  SIMON  teter: 

"  And  behold  there  was  a  man  in  Jerusalem,  whose 
name  Avas  Simeon  ;  and  the  same  man  was  just  and 
devout,  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel :  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  upon  him.  And  it  was  revealed  unto 
him  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  should  not  see  death 
before  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ." 

This  good  man  is  here  called  a  '*  devout  "  disciple. 
That  is  a  word  which  is  exceedingly  significant, 
wherever  we  meet  it  in  inspired  history ;  it  marks  a 
class  of  saints  very  acceptable  to  God. 

"  And  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews,  de- 
vout men,  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven." 

"  And  devout  men  carried  Stephen  to  his  burial, 
and  made  great  lamentation  over  him." 

The  term  is  explained  in  the  case  of  Cornelius  the 
Roman  centurion : 

"  There  was  a  certain  man  in  Caesarea  called  Cor- 
nelius, a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the  Italian 
band,  a  devout  man,  and  one  that  feared  God  with 
all  his  house,  v/hich  gave  much  alms  to  the  people, 
and  prayed  to  God  alway." 

The  reference  seems  to  be  to  those  who  were  looking 
and  waiting  for  the  promised  Messiah,  and  who  readily 
received  him  when  he  came.  Of  these,  Simeon  was 
one ;  and  we  reverently  recall  another. 

"  And  there  was  one  Anna,  a  prophetess,  the 
daughter  of  Phanuel,  of  the  tribe  of  Aser ;  she  was 
of  a  great  age,  and  had  lived  with  an  husband  seven 
years  from  her  virginity;  and  she  was  a  widow  of  about 
fourscore  and  four  years,  which  departed  not  from 
the  temple,  but  served  God  with  fastings  and  prayers 


TWENTY   TROUBLED  YEARS.  8^ 

night  and  day.  And  she  coming  in  that  instant 
gave  thanks  Hkev/ise  unto  the  Lord,  and  spake  of  him 
to  all  them  that  looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem." 

Reared  according  to  the  Old  Testament  pattern, 
such  persons  easily  glided  into  the  New  Testament 
life.  In  one  sense,  they  are  to  be  considered  the 
Christians  of  that  former  dispensation.  Abraham  saw 
the  day  of  Christ  afar  off,  and  was  glad.  Simeon 
and  Anna  saw  that  same  day  near  at  hand,  and  so 
were  gladder  still.  Doubtless  they  had  been  for 
many  years  meek  and  exemplary  servants  of  a 
Master  unseen  ;  in  whom,  though  they  saw  him  not, 
yet  believing,  they  rejoiced  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory ;  receiving  the  end  of  their  faith,  even 
the  salvation  of  their  souls.  They  lived  up  to  the 
light  they  possessed,  strict  In  all  the  ceremonial  ob- 
servances of  the  law  of  Moses,  yet  not  as  a  mere 
perfunctory  or  meritorious  performance,  but  discern- 
ing spiritually  in  each  enactment  a  true  meaning  which 
gave  it  its  value,  and  receiving  every  particular  In 
the  ancient  ritual  as  a  type  and  shadow  of  the  coming 
Messiah.  There  were  not  many  of  these  people,  but 
there  were  some. 

Very  beautiful  seem  such  devout  old  men  and 
women,  like  Simeon  and  Anna,  around  the  person  of 
that  infant  Saviour.  They  resemble  loyal  courtiers 
hailing  the  prince  of  their  kingdom  as  he  comes  to 
his  rightful  throne.  And  very  beautiful  always 
seems  the  sight  of  an  old  believer,  spiritually  ranging 
himself,  even  in  our  time,  on  the  side  of  Immanuel, 
son  of  Mary,  son  of  David,  son  of  God  ! 


84  .m.MON  peter: 

**  The  glory  of  young  men  is  their  strength  :  and 
the  beauty  of  old  men  is  the  gray  head.  The  hoary 
head  is  a  crown  of  glory,  if  it  be  found  in  the  way 
of  righteousness." 

The  chief  element  which  characterized  such  faith 
as  this  was  its  expectancy.  Those  steady  believers 
were  looking  forward.  The  constant  hope  in  their 
hearts  was  that  "  the  Lord's  Christ  "  would  come. 
They  were  "waiting  for  the  Consolation  of  Israel." 
Think  what  profound  significance  there  is  in  that 
name — the  Consolation  !  Most  strikingly  does  it  follow 
the  prophecy  which  bids  the  Messiah  to  be  the  com- 
fort of  God's  people.  Harmoniously  does  it  chime 
in  with  the  present  stay  of  the  church,  the  Comforter 
which  Jesus  himself  promised  and  afterwards  sent. 
No  one  can  fail  to  see  how  many  and  how  signal  are 
the  advantages  of  such  a  state  of  expectancy. 

Better  for  men  to  walk  by  faith  than  by  sight ! 
Indeed,  how  pitifully  discouraging  it  v/ould  be  to  im- 
agine we  had  exhausted  the  gospel  feast  with  the 
first  taste  of  the  food  !  A  fine  outlook  supplements 
and  enhances  a  fine  look ;  quickening  a  reverent 
curiosity,  stimulating  holy  meditation,  sharpening 
devotional  appetite,  causing  the  whole  soul  so  to 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  as  that  the  best 
gratification  which  can  be  offered  to  it  is  just  the 
righteousness  it  craves.  Our  lives  are  moulded,  our 
innermost  experience  fashioned,  under  the  full  pres- 
sure of  things  around  us  in  daily  association — this  is 
not  to  be  disputed.  But,  more  than  by  anything  else, 
the  Christian's  future  is  fixed  by  the  future  which  he 


TWENTY   TROUBLED   YEARS.  85 

sees.  Our  highest  and  best  hopes  are  on  ahead. 
"What  God  has  laid  ^/// for  his  children,"  says  quaint 
Matthew  Henry,  "  is  much  ;  but  what  he  has  laid  up 
for  them  is  more." 

But  now  a  question  arises :  What  gave  men  such  a 
solicitously  alert  seeking  exactly  at  this  time  ?  The 
answer  reveals  one  of  the  most  interesting  providences 
of  God  concerning  the  advent  of  Jesus.  It  seems  to 
have  been  intended  that  before  he  should  appear,  he 
should  have  a  fair  right  to  receive  the  name  applied 
to  him — the  Desire  of  all  nations.  So  the  desires  of 
humankind  were  excited  towards  him  in  anticipation 
of  his  arrival.  Certain  prophecies,  contained  in  the 
Old  Testament  scriptures  perhaps  started  the  rumor. 
At  all  events,  the  fact  is  perfectly  clear  that,  during 
the  period  crossed  by  the  early  life  of  Simon  son  of 
Jonas,  the  world  at  large  was  with  an  anxious  eager- 
ness expecting  Christ  to  come  any  moment. 

We  know  this  from  the  sketches  of  the  biographer 
Suetonius,  from  the  annals  of  the  historian  Tacitus, 
from  the  eclogue  of  the  poet  Virgil.  And  Josephus 
adds  his  testimony  likewise.  These  men  did  not 
make  the  report,  they  simply  witnessed  the  fact 
that  there  was  such  a  report  in  wide  and  credited 
circulation.  Across  the  entire  continent — which 
was  then  the  known  world — there  prevailed  the  in- 
tense conviction  that  ere  long,  just  now,  within  a 
month  or  a  year  or  a  day,  at  any  time,  a  mighty  King 
was  coming  in  Judaea  who  should  set  up  and  hold 
dominion  over  all  the  earth ;  that  in  him  humanity 
should  find  its  solace  and  its  blessing;  and  the  primal 


S6  sixMON  peter: 

forfeit  of  the  divine  favor  and  image  should  be  requit- 
ed and  restored. 

That  was  enough  to  make  anybody  look  upward 
to  whom  in  that  general  llstlessness  the  power  of 
thought  remained.  It  is  not  now  worth  while  to  load 
these  pages  with  quotations  which  are  familiar  from  a 
thousand  repetitions.  The  plain  words  of  Suetonius 
will  be  sufficient  here.  He  says :  *'  There  had  been 
circulating  throughout  the  East  an  ancient  and  con- 
stant opinion  that  a  person  or  persons  were  destined 
to  appear  at  this  time  in  Judasa,  who  should  conquer 
the  world  and  set  up  a  beneficent  government  over 
the  whole  of  it."  The  illustration,  which  is  also  a 
proof,  is  found  in  that  visit  of  the  Wise  Men  from  the 
far  East,  who  came  in  search  of  the  Saviour. 

Why  may  we  not  suppose  that  Zebedee  and  Salome 
— of  whom  we  hear  such  excellent  things  afterwards 
— as  well  as  Jonas  and  Johanna  (If  that  was  his  wife's 
name),  of  whom  we  are  sorry  to  hear  nothing,  were 
among  the  waiting  and  watching  believers  of  that 
day  ?  Why  not  imagine  these  young  men,  John, 
James,  Philip,  Simon,  and  Andrew,  were  reared  under 
just  such  tutelage  of  piety  and  prayer  during  all 
those  years  of  their  opening  lives  ?  The  Jews  have 
a  form  of  oath,  among  the  most  binding  they  ever 
employ,  "  By  my  hopes  of  beholding  the  Consola- 
tion." Think  of  those  good  villagers  again.  How 
they  would  go  forth,  like  Isaac  at  eventide,  to  med- 
itate upon  the  peculiar  care  Jehovah  had  bestowed 
on  their  fathers  and  would  continue  to  their  children  • 
how  their  hearts  would  swell  among  Jerusalem  scenes, 


TWENTY  TROUBLED   YEARS.  8/ 

as  they  visited  them  at  the  feasts,  musing  upon  the 
former  glory  of  the  realm  when  the  throne  of  David 
had  been  filled  and  the  palace  of  Solomon  had  been 
tenanted  by  the  Lord's  own  Anointed  ;  how  eagerly 
they  would  anticipate  the  day  when  perhaps  even 
their  failing  eyesight  should  rejoice  in  the  restoration 
of  everything  they  had  been  holding  so  honored  and 
so  dear ! 

People  In  our  country  often  go  further  for  Sabbath 
services  than  Bethsaida  was  from  Nazareth.  But 
Simon  did  not  know  what  Mary  pondered  in  her 
heart.  He  spent  those  twenty  troubled  years  of  his 
mature  life  without  once  seeing  Jesus,  though  close 
beside  him ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    VOICE     IN    THE    WILDERNESS. 

''When  the  tale  of  bricks  Is  doubled,  then  comes 
Moses:"  this  is  an  apothegm  familiar  among  the  Jews 
even  to  the  present  day,  and  rehearsed  in  their 
stories  of  the  past.  But  Moses  came  twice;  and,  the 
first  time,  he  was  abruptly  rejected.  The  **  Prophet 
like  unto  Moses,"  promised  and  at  last  announced  to 
our  sin-enslaved  race  as  the  Redeemer,  was  intro- 
duced by  a  forerunner,  who  was  not  accepted  any 
more  than  his  Master.  John  the  Baptist  was  ulti- 
mately beheaded  for  his  reward  of  fidelity ;  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  was  crucified. 

Thus  it  comes  about  that  Christ's  sad  history 
strikes  back  on  John's,  and  gives  it  an  unexpected 
interpretation.  Very  true  have  proved  those  words 
of  Heinrich  Heine:  ** Wheresoever  a  great  soul  in 
this  world  has  uttered  its  thoughts,  there  always  has 
been  Golgotha." 

Affairs  had  now  reached  the  last  crisis.  Pontius 
Pilate  was  misgoverning  Judaea,  filling  history  with 
extortions  and  infamies  of  crime.  A  new  Herod, 
worthy  of  the  name,  was  shaming  the  people  with 
villanous  lusts  and  defections  in  faith,  his  desperate 
morals  fitly  keeping  pace  with  his  downward  career 
of   apostasy.       At  Rome,   Tiberius  was   living    that 


THE    VOICE    IX    THE    ^\TLDERXESS.  89 

life  which  Suetonius  was  to  record  in  volumes  so 
prurient  and  polluted  that  modern  readers  have  t^ 
fill  out  the  expurgated  pages  of  filthy  sentences  Avith 
asterisks  and  blanks. 

Suddenly  was  heard  a  voice  in  the  wilderness. 
There  was  singular  pathos  in  it,  as  there  is  in  all  hu- 
man tones  that  have  power.  But  it  had,  besides  that, 
a  sort  of  vibrating  ring  in  it  which  intimated  a  chal- 
lenge. Experts  say  that  idiots,  even  in  the  midst  of 
a  gibbering  frolic,  will  pause  abruptly  to  listen  to  the 
sound  of  a  musical  instrument ;  perhaps  some  vague 
recollection  of  primal  harmonies  in  a  healthy  nature 
before  it  was  shattered  may  be  awakened  by  the  stir 
near  by  ;  the  soul  seems  seeking  to  render  answer, 
but  only  succeeds  in  giving  wistful  attention.  That 
was  not  a  loud  voice  in  those  days  down  by  the  Dead 
Sea,  but  all  Judaea  heard  it;  and  up  the  Jordan  it 
rushed  with  more  than  the  usual  celerity ;  it  certainly 
in  due  time  reached  the  villagers  in  the  land  of  Gen- 
nesaret,  for  some  of  them  journeyed  at  once  toward 
it — notably,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  and  John  and  James 
and  Andrew,  who  were  destined  to  figure  in  the  train 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  great  wicked  world  of  that  time  checked  its 
ribaldry  for  some  solemn  moments  to  hear  what  such 
a  preacher  had  to  say.  What  he  did  say  was  surely 
worth  the  hearing :  **  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  That  call  aroused  consciences 
which  indulged  no  false  alarms.  Men  began  to  go 
down  to  the  Jordan  River  from  all  directions  in  vast 
crowds,    on   a  mission   of  inquiry  which   they  called 


90  SIMON  teter: 

curious,  but  which  was  really  anxious.  They  found 
an  individual  of  singular  appearance  and  habit.  He 
wore  a  camlet  tunic,  a  loose  garment  of  coarse  sack- 
cloth, bound  close  to  his  person  with  a  thong  of  un- 
tanned  hide.  His  skin  was  bronzed  with  seasons  of 
exposure  in  the  strange  defiles  near  what  is  now 
called  Mar-Saba,  the  lower  Kidron  Valley  between 
Bethlehem  and  the  emaciated  hills  by  the  Dead  Sea. 
His  uncut  hair  hung  down  wildly  over  his  shoulders, 
for  it  was  vowed  for  him  that  no  razor  should  come 
upon  his  head  as  a  Nazarite  ;  this  had  been  cove- 
nanted even  from  his  earliest  infancy.  Stories  were 
told  about  his  living  altogether  upon  locusts  dipped 
in  salt  water  and  dried  so  that  they  looked  somewhat 
like  shrimps — ^just  such  poor  food  as  the  lowest  peo- 
ple now  eat  in  the  same  dreary  district ;  these,  it  was 
said,  John  rendered  palatable  or  endurable  by  wild 
honey  which  he  might  happen  to  find  in  the  rocks. 

Perhaps  among  the  companies  that  visited  this 
man  in  the  desert,  there  were  some  few  old  neighbors 
who  remembered  those  remarkable  circumstances  of 
Elisabeth's  history  thirty  years  before,  up  in  the  hill 
country  near  Hebron.  It  is  likely  they  would  rec- 
ognize in  this  preacher  the  mysterious  child  who  as 
he  grew  had  ''waxed  strong  in  spirit,"  and  had  then 
disappeared  into  ''  the  deserts,"  and  possibly  would 
exclaim,  the  moment  they  set  eyes  upon  him,  ''Why, 
this  is  the  son  of  Zacharias,  whose  birth  was  foretold 
by  the  angel  Gabriel  !  He  has  doubtless  been  dwell- 
ing in  these  lonely  solitudes  ever  since  he  was  a  lad  ; 
not  a  word  has  been  heard  of  him  for  a  generation  !" 


THE    VOICE    IN    THE    ^YILDERNESS.  9 1 

The  success  which  this  desert  preacher  secured 
was  wonderful.  The  languag-e  intimates  that  the 
entire  country  was  moved  into  excitement,  and 
actually  gathered  into  assemblages  around  him: 
"Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judsea, 
and  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan,  and  were 
baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins." 

We  must  recollect  that  this  was  the  great  Sabbati- 
cal year  of  the  Jews;  the  people  were  less  busy;  the 
whole  land  was  at  rest ;  a  religious  atmosphere  was 
breathing  around  them;  and  so  the  awakened  multi- 
tudes swept  forth  from  their  homes  on  every  hand. 
Bethabara — the  little  fording-place  just  north  of 
Jericho — was  thronged  with  eager  listeners  from  all 
classes  and  social  conditions.  When  we  consider  all 
the  circumstances,  it  would  seem  as  if  this  solemn 
man  from  the  wilderness  had  drawn  the  whole  coun- 
try into  his  train.  Our  Saviour  bore  remarkable 
testimony  to  his  powers.  He  pronounced  him  a 
"burning  and  shining  light;"  and  once  he  left  this 
stately  verse,  as  a  careful  and  exact  register  of  the 
man  and  his  office:  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Among 
them  that  are  born  of  woman,  there  has  not  risen  a 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist:  notwithstanding,  he 
that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than 
he." 

Thus  he  gave  them  to  understand  that  John  owed 
all  his  amazing  strength  with  the  multitude,  not  to 
any  personal  endowments  of  intellect,  nor  to  any 
advantages  of  education,  but  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
heaven-sent  truth  he  preached;  at  the  best,  he  was  a 


92  SIMON  peter: 

sinner  needing  to    be    saved ;  his    force    came   from 
grace,  not  from  gifts. 

At  first  the  feehng  must  have  been  full  of  insatiate 
curiosity.  Who  was  this  strange  being  ?  Many 
went  down  to  the  Jordan,  and  came  back  repeating 
inquisitive  surmises  they  had  heard.  Some  said  he 
was  the  real  Messiah ;  others  said  he  Avas  Elijah ; 
others  still  mysteriously  whispered  that  a  new  prophet 
had  been  sent  with  a  startling  message  from  the  long- 
closed  sky.  Meantime,  John  reiterated  his  precise 
errand,  and  coupled  it  with  fresh  warnings.  His 
office  was  that  of  a  simple  forerunner ;  he  was  the 
voice  crying  in  the  wilderness — vox  ct praeterca  nihil 
— a  voice  and  nothing  more. 

*'  And  as  the  people  were  in  expectation,  and  all 
men  mused  in  their  hearts  of  John,  whether  he  were 
the  Christ  or  not,  John  answered,  saying  unto  them 
all,  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  ;  but  one  mightier 
than  I  Cometh,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy 
to  unloose  ;  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire  :  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  will  gather  the  v/heat 
Into  his  garner ;  but  the  chaff  he  will  burn  with  fire 
unquenchable." 

And  now,  if  there  had  been  such  a  thing  as  a  spir- 
itual barometer  in  the  land  of  Israel,  it  would  have 
awakened  in  the  heart  of  a  thoughtful  man  the  live- 
liest alarm ;  for  the  sinking  of  the  Index  at  this 
period  was  unprecedented.  There  was  coming  a 
storm  of  convulsion,  tempest,  and  fire;  the  sunshine 
was  bright  and  pleasant  around  those   old  Pharisees, 


THE    VOICE    IX    THE    ^VILDERNESS.  93 

but  the  thunder  was  muttering  ominously  down  by 
the  Jordan.  One  morning,  while  the  Baptist  was  at 
his  ordinary  work,  administering  that  rite  by  which 
his  converts  entered  Into  the  promise  of  a  new  life,  some 
of  the  chief  people  of  the  aristocratic  sects  presented 
themselves.  It  is  evident,  from  John's  manner  as  well 
as  from  his  language,  that  he  was  astonished  beyond 
measure  at  their  visit.  His  abrupt  challenge  must 
have  given  them  a  singular  surprise;  for  when  he  saw 
many  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  come  to  his  bap- 
tism, he  said  unto  them,  *'0  generation  of  vipers, 
who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come?" 

It  is  easy  to  conjecture  now  that  sharp  conversation 
passed  on  between  them.  Here  was  a  man,  trained 
to  solitudes  where  for  a  score  of  intelligent  years  he 
had  had  his  own  way  with  words,  Avith  no  fear  of 
contradiction  before  his  eyes,  no  special  tremor  in 
the  presence  of  supercilious  hypocrites,  of  whom  he 
had  not  asked  odds.  He  demanded  what  they  were 
there  for.  And  they  probably  answered,  *'  We  have 
come  to  repent ;  we  are  here  to  be  baptized  for  the 
remission  of  our  sins ;  we  are  ready  for  a  becom- 
ing confession." 

"Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance," 
replied  this  stern  servant  of  God,  perfectly  well  aware 
of  the  insincerity  of  those  with  whom  he  was  sum- 
moned to  deal,  knowing  they  desired  no  more  than 
to  patronize  him. 

Then  it  seems  as  if  they,  being  angrily  excited  at 
his  classing  them  with  such  poor  peasants  as  were 


94  SIMON    PETER  : 

following  him  at  the  time,  must  have  said  something 
about  their  belonging  to  a  race  of  sanctified  people, 
dating  far  back  to  the  Father  of  the  Faithful  himself. 
For  suddenly,  pointing  to  the  bleak  rocks  lying  close 
by,  with  one  of  his  quick  gestures  of  inexpressible 
contempt,  John  exclaimed — ''  And  think  not  to  say 
within  yourselves,  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father ; 
for  I  say  unto  you,  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones 
to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham." 

The  result  could  have  been  anticipated  ;  these  self- 
satisfied  formalists  went  their  way  with  consciences 
sorer  perhaps,  but  with  wills  in  no  measure  subdued ; 
they  came  to  be  endorsed  by  John,  not  to  be  lectured 
by  him.      Humbler  people  plainly  got  on  far  better. 

*'  And  all  the  people  that  heard  him,  and  the  pub- 
licans, justified  God,  being  baptized  with  the  baptism 
of  John.  But  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers  rejected  the 
counsel  of  God  against  themselves,  being  not  baptized 
of  him." 

Then  came  the  roar  of  the  storm,  and  the  rocking 
of  spiritual  earthquake.  The  nation  was  moved; 
the  foundations  were  shaken.  Faction  contended 
with  faction  ;  and  this  haggard  man  with  the  bold 
words  answered  with  denunciations.  He  who  could 
call  Pharisees  vipers  called  an  adulterous  king  by  the 
name  he  deserved.  But  multitudes  of  common  people 
heard  him  gladly.  All  those  sighing,  waiting 
believers  listened  and  turned  away  from  their  sins. 
The  villages  sent  forth  crowds  from  all  the  districts. 
And  among  them  we  find  Simon  son  of  Jonas,  and 
Andrew,  James,  and  John,  from  Galilee. 


THE    VOICE    IN    THE    WILDERNESS.  95 

And  now  let  us  seriously  pause  for  a  thoughtful 
moment,  just  to  let  our  Imagination  catch  a  single  pic- 
ture on  the  page  of  eternal  history.  Two  lives  have 
started  out — one  from  Nazareth,  one  from  Bethsaida; 
these  two  are  to  meet  at  the  side  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  are  never  to  be  separated  again;  Simon  will  soon 
reach  a  companionship  with  Jesus  which  will  give  him 
a  cross  and  a  crown! 

But  first  there  must  be  a  discipleship  of  the  law 
coming  solemnly  in  order  before  the  discipleship  of 
the  gospel.  Nowhere  can  we  find  any  record  of  the 
meeting  at  the  Jordan.  It  is  left  to  an  easy  conjec- 
ture that  Simon  was  baptized,  but  it  is  not  stated.  We 
catch  our  earliest  sight  of  this -fisherman  there  in  the 
crowd.  It  is  fair  to  ask.  What  went  he  forth  to  see? 
A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind  ?  Ah,  but  this  preacher 
was  no  reed!  All  sinew  and  soul,  his  figure  rose 
among  the  sedges  beside  the  river  exceedingly  sub- 
stantial and  real.  But  what  did  he  go  forth  to  see? 
A  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment?  Anybody  could  have 
told  him  that  they  who  wear  soft  clothing  are  in  kings' 
houses.  But  what  went  Simon  out  for  to  see?  A 
prophet?  Yea,  and  more  than  a  prophet,  the  Fore- 
runner of  Christ. 

Think  of  a  man  like  Simon  coming  in  contact  with 
a  man  like  John  the  Baptist!  For  once  this  son  of 
Jonas  met  a  King  of  men! 

^  John,  than  which  man   a  sadder  or  a  greater 
Not  till  this  day  has  been  of  woman  boin : 
John,  like  some  iron  peak,  by  the  Creator 

Fired  wi'.h  the  red  glow  of  the  rushing  morn. 
5 


g6  SIMON    PETIOR  : 

This,  when  the  sun  shall  rise  and  overcome  it. 
Stands  in  his  shining  desolate  and  bare; 

Yet  not  the  less  the  inexorable  summit 
Flamed  him  his  signal  to  the  happier  air." 

Here  was  the  turning  point  of  that  fisherman's  hfe. 
For  an  agonized  and  convulsed  day  or  week  or  month 
— no  one  knows  how  the  time  was  lengthened — he 
saw  himself  a  poor,  foolish,  wicked  sinner.  Most  likely 
he  had  supposed  up  to  this  time  that  he  was  alive;  for 
years  he  had  worn  his  strips  of  Scripture  around  his 
forehead,  and  done  his  small  rounds  of  service.  Like 
Paul,  he  was  alive  once  because  he  was  without  the 
law;  now  he  had  met  this  searching  man  among  the 
bushes  by  the  Jordan;  and  John  Avas  the  personifica- 
tion of  Law.  So  when  the  commandment  came,  sin 
revived,  and  Simon  died. 

That  is  to  say,  the  disclosure  of  what  the  divine 
law  really  meant  condemned  him.  It  laid  hold  of  the 
heart ;  and  this  man  suddenly  discovered  that  his 
heart  had  never  been  in  the  shallow  ceremonials  of 
the  Pharisees  ;   nor  had  he  received  God's  pardon. 

Night  after  night,  perhaps,  when  John  had  finished 
baptizing,  and  the  restless  throngs  had  gone  away, 
and  the  stillness  had  settled  over  the  plain,  and  only 
the  river  was  moving  on,  swifdy  as  life  was  moving 
on,  and  only  the  stars  were  serene  overhead,  deep 
darkness  in  its  awful  suggestion  was  his  companion, 
and  heavy  pain  was  his  experience.  For  John  had 
said  one  thing  full  of  force  and  terror  to  a  rustic  man, 
whose  imagination  was  picturesque  like  his:  "And 
now  also  the  axe  is  laid  unto  the  root   of  the  trees; 


THE    VOICE    IN    THE    WILDERNESS.  97 

every  tree  therefore  which  bringeth  not  forth  good 
fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire,*' 

What  did  that  mean  ?  That  God's  mercy  was 
waiting  for  sinful  men  to  mend  their  ways,  and  was 
wiUing  to  give  them  a  chance  just  a  Httle  longer.  As 
a  husbandman  would  drop  his  axe  beside  a  tree- 
trunk,  from  whose  branches  came  no  fruit,  deciding 
not  to  cut  down  the  useless  thing,  but  to  grant  a 
warning  for  a  single  season  more,  and  leave  his  axe 
lying  at  the  root  for  a  sign — ^just  so  God  was 
now  signaling  his  patience  with  the  nation  and  the 
race. 

These  Bethsaida  men  had  been  reared  to  what 
hitherto  appeared  valuable  routines  and  ceremonies 
of  duty.  Simon  saw  now  how  ineffably  mean  these 
punctilios  were.  His  eyes  were  opened.  If  the  law  of 
Moses  had  been  enough  once,  it  could  never  be  enough 
hereafter.  For  the  great  Light  wae  in  the  world,  and 
John  was  here  bearing  witness  of  it.  So  new  respon- 
sibihties  had  been  thrown  upon  a  soul  according  to 
the  knowledge  it  had  received.  In  the  overwhelming 
earnestness  of  the  forerunner  Simon  perceived  his 
own  cause  ,of  alarm.  He  could  neverm.ore  be  what 
had  satisfied  him  before. 

"  And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at ; 
but  now  commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent ; 
because  he  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained." 

Oh,  these  days  by  the  Jordan  !  They  seemed  like 
a  section  of  the  Day  of  Judgment  coming  before  its 


98  SIMON  peter: 

time!  Yet,  in  his  very  hopelessness,  this  fisherman 
would  find  his  hope.  For  John  told  him  again  and 
ap-ain  of  the  One  who  should  increase  in  Ids  decrease 
soon. 

And  John  the  Baptist  was  a  reality.  This  poor 
world  of  ours  has  been  so  often  trifled  with  that  it 
has  learned  to  be  satisfied  thoroughly  only  with  what 
is  honest  and  true.  There  could  be  then  no  possi- 
bility of  mistaking  this  man,  nor  Simon  either ;  they 
were  genuine.  It  is  exhilarating  to  picture  such  men 
together  for  once. 

Virgil  tells  us  that  when  ^neas  descended  into 
Hades  to  visit  his  father,  he  came  to  Charon's  ferry 
across  the  infernal  river.  As  he  stepped  into  the 
light  boat,  accustomed  to  carry  only  ghosts,  so  heavy 
a  weip-ht  of  a  living;  man  made  the  craft  tremble  and 
creak  through  all  the  length  of  its  sewed  seams. 

We  can  presume  that  the  hollow  forms  of  social 
life  in  those  wretched  days  were  writhed  and  strained, 
if  not  shattered,  by  an  uncompromising  reality  of 
manhood  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist  at  the  Jordan. 
He  was  a  man  among  the  shadows  of  men.  He  had 
an  actual  "  idea."  He  shook  off  the  shams  of  relig- 
ion, and  told  men  a  great  deal  more  about  religion 
itself  than  they  ever  knew  before. 

This  being  with  the  uncouth  hair,  and  the  scant 
garment,  and  the  bronzed  face,  and  the  piercing 
eye,  disdained  all  the  adventitious  shows  of  authority 
and  drove  his  arguments  straight  toward  the  con- 
sciences of  men.  He  put  himself  within  reach  of 
living  people.       Only  he  shred   away  the   veils,  and 


THE   VOICE    IN   THE    WILDERNESS.  99 

tinsels,  and  mockeries  of  an  outward  show ;  he  tore 
up  traditions  and  mere  commandments  of  men. 

''  And  the  people  asked  him,  saying,  What  shall 
we  do  then  ?  He  answereth  and  saith  unto  them, 
He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  impart  to  him  that 
hath  none;  and  he  that  hath  meat,  let  him  do  likewise. 
Then  came  also  publicans  to  be.  baptized,  and  said 
unto  him,  Master, what  shall  we  do  ?  And  he  said 
unto  them.  Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is  ap- 
pointed you.  And  the  soldiers  likewise  demanded 
of  him,  saying,  And  what  shall  we  do  ?  And  he 
said  unto  them,  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither 
accuse  any  falsely  ;  and  be  content  with  your  wages." 

And  this,  tJiiSy  in  the  midst  of  a  community  which 
was  wont  to  peril  the  vast  interests  of  the  eternal 
future  upon  the  length  of  a  piece  of  parchment  on  the 
forehead,  or  the  weight  of  a  tithe  ! 

Into  the  leadership  of  such  a  man  as  John  would 
the  loyalty  of  such  a  man  as  Simon  instantly  surrender 
itself  The  son  of  Jonas  had  met  his  master.  And 
that  master's  Master  stood  just  beyond.  And  we 
need  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that,  when  we  next 
look  upon  this  Galilean  fisherman,  we  shall  see  him  in 
the  full  light  of  Immanuel  the  Son  of  God.  And 
there  will  his  life  be  ranged  for  all  time  to  come,  till 
Simon  becomes  Peter,  and  Peter  is  glorified. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  FINDING    OF    SIMON. 

Artists,  the  world  over,  have  furnished  us  with  a 
great  many  representations,  in  marble  and  upon  can- 
vas, of  the  finding  of  Moses.  Why  does  not  some 
one  produce  this  much  more  picturesque  and  pathetic 
scene  of  the  New  Testament,  the  finding  of  Simon 
Peter?  "  One  of  the  two  which  heard  John  speak,  and 
followed  him,  was  Andrew,  Simon  Peter's  brother. 
He  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon,  and  saith 
unto  him,  We  have  found  the  Messias;  which  is, 
being  interpreted,  the  Christ." 

Some  slight  rehearsals  of  the  history  at  this  point 
will  help  us  to  understand  the  unceremonious  appear- 
ance of  these  two  fishermen  in  the  story.  It  appears 
that  our  Lord  one  day,  almost  immediately  after  his 
baptism,  was  walking  by  the  river  Jordan,  near  which 
his  cousin,  John  the  Baptist,  was  still  lingering  in  the 
company  of  some  friends.  This  wonderful  man  had 
gathered  around  his  person  a  band  of  close  adherents. 
They  followed  him,  and  learned  of  him,  and  so  are 
called  his  disciples.  To  them,  John,  lifting  his  lean 
finger,  and  gesturing  with  his  keen  eye,  pointed  out 
the  figure  of  the  Nazarene  Prophet  as  he  advanced, 
and  exclaimed: 

'*  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world!" 

Among    the  company  at  that  moment  were  two 


THE   FINDING   OF    SIMON.  1 01 

Galileans,  whom  we  learn  afterwards  to  have  been 
Andrew,  Jonas'  son,  and  another  John — the  son  of 
Zebedee — both  from  Bethsaida,  neighbors  and  friends. 
These,  apparently  rendered  curious  by  the  words  of 
the  haggard  Baptist,  turned  away  from  him  at  once 
and  began  to  follow  the  retreating  footsteps  of  Jesus 
along  the  bank.  Thereupon,  the  Saviour,  discover- 
ing they  were  quite  intent  on  coming  up  with  him, 
checked  his  pace,  and  courteously  asked  them  wdiat 
they  desired  of  him. 

''Master,  where  dwellest  thou?"  Thus  they  an- 
swered his  inquiry  by  putting  another. 

Jesus  gave  them  an  invitation  in  reply,  intimating 
that,  if  they  would  come  on  with  him,  they  might  see 
for  themselves. 

It  was  then  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon — the 
margin  of  our  English  Bible  says — "About  two  hours 
before  night."  It  is  not  certainly  recorded  where  the 
Son  of  Man  was  then  laying  his  homeless  head. 
Some  think  he  was  abiding  in  a  hut  of  boughs,  some 
small  *'succoth"  of  oleander  or  willow  cut  from  the 
near  forests,  and  covered  Avith  a  striped  blanket  of 
camel's  hair.  Others  conjecture  he  chose  the  ordi- 
nary tent  of  coarse  canvas — such  as  the  pilgrims  in 
those  times  used,  when  they  came  up  to  the  annual 
festivities  at  Jerusalem,  and  encamped  upon  the  slopes 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives — such  as  in  all  likelihood 
many  of  the  Baptist's  desert  listeners  employed  for 
their  shelter  in  the  chilly  nights  beside  the  river. 
Still,  it  seems  better  to  think  of  our  Lord  as  having 
quarters  in  a  dwelHng  of  some  relative  or  friend    in 


102  SIMON    PETER: 

the   neighborhood,   by  whose  hospltahty  he  was  for 
the  time  being  made  welcome. 

At  any  rate,  wherever  his  abode  was,  the  men  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  door.  They  probably  looked  upon 
Jesus  as  one  of  the  traveling  Rabbins,  and  in  his  an- 
swer to  their  question  our  Lord  made  use  of  the  for- 
mula these  religious  teachers  frequently  employed 
when  the  systems  they  promulgated  fell  into  discussion: 

''Seeing is  believing;  come  and  see!" 

Pascal  has  been  quoted  as  saying  very  suggestive- 
ly that  human  things  must  be  known  to  be  loved, 
but  divine  things  must  be  loved  first  before  they  can 
be  known.  ''Come  and  see,"  exclaims  David.  "Come 
and  see,"  pleads  Philip  with  Nathanael.  "Come  and 
see,"  cries  the  Samaritan  woman  to  her  neighbors. 
"Come  and  see,"  Jesus  says  here  likewise.  It  is  the 
invitation  for  all  time.  Christianity  wants  nothing  of 
all  its  opposers  along  the  ages  of  history  but  just  a 
fair  look  at  it  out  of  eyes  willing  to  see. 

No  record  now  remains  of  this  interview  of  those 
two  men,  as  they  entered  and  conversed  with  Jesus. 
Only  the  imagination  knows  its  significance.  What 
an  evening  of  disclosure  it  must  have  been  to  them ! 
What  a  revolution  in  their  ways  of  thinking!  What 
a  crisis  to  their  lives !  What  a  turn  to  all  their  pros- 
pects in  future! 

They  may  have  staid  till  late  that  night;  some  imag- 
ine they  talked  all  the  night.  At  this  impressive 
moment,  when  they  went  in  to  have  a  conference  with 
Jesus  about  what  John  said,  begins  their  long  history 
which  finally  nailed  Andrew  on  his  singular  gibbet  of 


THE   FINDING    OF    SIMON.  1 03 

crucifixion,  and  sent  John,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  an 
aged  and  lonely  exile,  into  Patmos  for  the  visions  of 
the  Apocalypse. 

We  could  have  pardoned  Andrew  and  John  if  they 
had  forgotten  everything  beside,  and  just  remained  at 
the  Master's  feet  in  a  companionship  so  extraordinary 
and  a  communion  so  dear  as  that  visit  in  the  night 
afforded.  But  Andrew  seems  to  have  already  caught 
the  spirit  of  the  exhortation,  which  his  comrade  John 
was  inspired  long  years  afterwards  to  press:  **  Let 
him  that  heareth  say,  Come."  Up,  therefore,  at  the 
early  morning  call  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  instantly 
hurried  out  for  a  new  convert ;  and  the  story  goes  on 
to  relate,   "  He  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon." 

Here,  then,  is  brought  out  the  interesting  fact  that 
Andrew  became  the  human  instrument  in  the  con- 
version of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Circumcision. 
The  sovereignty  of  God  might  easily  have  ordered 
this  otherwise,  and  dealt  with  Peter  as  it  did  with 
Paul  in  his  arrest.  No  intervention  whatsoever  was 
disclosed  in  the  awful  moment  when  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  stricken  down  on  the  road  to  Damascus.  The 
voice  he  heard  was  that  of  Jesus  in  person.  Here, 
however,  we  find  the  introduction  of  fraternal  help. 
Andrew  brought  to  the  Saviour  this  brother  of  his 
with  quickness  and  persistency. 

Richard  Baxter's  somewhat  enthusiastic  biographer, 
when  contrasting  him  with  Orton,  remarks,  "  The 
one  would  have  set  the  entire  world  on  fire  while  the 
other  was  lighting  a  match  !"  It  is  true  there  are 
torpid  temperaments  among  Christian  workers,  whom 

5* 


104  SIMON    TETER: 

it  seems  actually  impossible  to  start  into  energy  and 
life.  But  this  act  of  Andrew,  and  the  subsequent 
record  of  Simon  Peter  himself,  would  produce  a  some- 
what strong  impression  that  Jonas'  family,  as  a  whole, 
kept  fully  up  to  the  line  of  legitimate  zeal. 

Let  us  hope  that  John  likewise — the  other  one 
from  the  Baptist's  disciples  who  had  shared  the 
choice  instructions  of  that  interview  in  the  night  with 
Jesus — was  as  expeditious  in  seeking  a  convert,  pos- 
sibly his  own  brother  James,  as  was  Andrew  in  seek- 
ing Simon,  and  that  those  sons  of  Zebedee  became 
one  in  heart  and  one  in  grateful  remembrance  of 
each  other,  like  the  sons  of  Jonas. 

Indeed,  some  peculiarities  in  the  phraseology  here 
employed,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  John  alone,  of 
all  the  Evangelists,  has  recorded  the  incident  of 
Peter's  first  becoming  acquainted  with  Jesus  at 
Bethabara,  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  felt  him- 
self entitled  to  claim  some  share  in  the  invitation  that 
brought  it  about.  For  when  this  verse  says  Andrew 
**  first  findeth  his  own  brother,"  it  does  not  assert 
that  the  first  act  he  did  was  this,  but  that  he  was  the 
first  one  who  did  this.  Just  as  if  these  two  firm  and 
old  friends  from  Galilee  had  been  speaking  together 
in  the  gray  light  of  that  wonderful  morning,  and  had 
remarked  to  each  other :  ''  Now  this  is  the  thing 
which  Simon,  above  all  others,  ought  to  know  at 
once;  let  us  look  him  up  as  soon  as  possible." 

And  then,  in  separating  for  the  search,  Andrew 
had  caught  an  earlier  glimpse  of  him  than  John  ;  but 
John,    though  disappointed   in   the   fact,  appears  to 


THE    FINDING   OF    SLMON.  1 05 

have  felt  he  might  rejoice  in  the  memory.  We  know 
he  wrote  that  gospel  which  bears  his  name,  in  the 
very  latest  years  of  his  apostolic  life,  when  he  was  an 
aged  exile  in  the  East,  away  from  his  home  upon  an 
island  around  which  melancholy  waves  of  the  sea 
kept  moaning.  Yet  even  in  those  (qw  choice  particu- 
lars of  history  he  saw  fit  to  include,  he  took  pains  to 
rehearse  this,  as  if  he  felt  a  sort  of  fond  and  loving 
pride  in  the  fame  of  his  Bethsaida  townsmen.  No 
one  can  possibly  pass  by  the  spring  of  exhilaration, 
the  liveliness  of  the  language,  here  in  the  inspired 
narrative.  Each  paragraph  is  exceedingly  brief,  but 
the  spirit  of  it  is  unmistakably  brisk  and  elate — 
as  if  this  aged  Evangelist,  last  of  the  apostolic  band, 
had  in  the  years  of  his  lonely  waiting  learned  to 
rejoice  with  a  tender  reminiscence,  since  all  of  those 
old  comrades  were  vanished  now,  that  the  little  village 
where  he  was  born  had  furnished  five  out  of  the  twelve 
whom  Jesus  chose  for  his  disciples ;  that  these  with- 
out exception  had  written  the  record  of  an  honorable 
career;  and  that  he  himself  might  now,  perhaps,  just 
be  permitted  to  mention  he  had  been  concerned  in 
bringing  Simon — the  recognized  chief  of  them  all — 
to  his  first  meeting  with  Christ. 

All  this  seems  perfectly  natural  ;  they  may  both 
have  started  on  the  same  errand,  only  Andrew  found 
the  man  first.  But  John  certainly  felt  he,  too,  was  to 
be  congratulated  upon  the  result.  And  it  will  do  no 
harm  if  we  think  that  just  here  was  where  the  beloved 
disciple  earliest  learned  the  force  of  the  command- 
ment   which,  as    he    afterwards    wrote    in   one  of  his 


io6  •  SIMON  peter; 

epistles,  he  had  from  the  highest  authority,  ''That  he 
who  loveth  God  love  his  brother  also." 

This  part  of  the  gospel  history  shows  us  how 
essentially  the  spirit  of  our  religion  is  a  missionary 
spirit.  It  rejects  all  monopolies  of  grace.  John's 
story  here  has,  most  aptly,  been  called  "  the  chapter 
of  the  Eurekas."  It  is  fairly  crowded  with  "  findings  " 
and  *'  founds."  We  are  not  surprised  that  such  phrase- 
ology continually  recurs.  For  every  one  who  is 
ready  to  shout,  ''  We  have  found,"  now,  as  then,  goes 
instantly  on  an  errand  of  finding.  Andrew  finds 
Simon,  and  then  tells  him  simply  what  he  has  found. 
Jesus  finds  Philip,  and  Philip  in  turn  finds  Nathanael, 
and  says  the  Messiah  is  found.  Thus  these  happy 
voices  of  relief  fly  from  one  to  another ;  and  thus 
they  fly  now  all  around  the  living  world. 

We  are  not  informed  where  Simon  abode  when 
Andrew  looked  him  up.  It  is  of  no  importance 
to  know  more  than  that  he  was  within  a  fraternal 
reach  of  influence  and  within  a  possible  reach  of 
Christ.  Andrew  knew  instinctively  that  his  brother 
would  be  welcome  the  moment  Jesus  set  eyes  upon 
him.  Indeed,  it  may  be  assumed  always  by  Christian 
Avorkers  that  the  good  Lord  in  converting  them  gave 
pledges  of  grace  to  every  soul  they  might  bring  to 
him.  And  hence  the  rule  of  all  successful  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world  Is  discovered  in  just  this  principle : 
let  every  believer  go  Instantly  to  work,  and  let  each 
begin  upon  the  soul  which  stands  next  to  him. 

We  must  remember  that  Simon  had  gone  a  good 
way  on  towards  Jesus  when  he  had  been  going  on  so 


THE    FINDING   OF    SIMON.  10/ 

far  towards  John.  That  human  soul  is  very  near  to 
Christ's  gospel  who  is  agitated  under  the  denunci- 
ations of  the  Forerunner's  law.  Moreover,  Andrew 
opened  an  unusually  wide  store  of  exciting  informa- 
tion, when  he  made  his  brother  see  that  this  new 
preacher  was  in  all  serious  likelihood  the  actual 
Messiah  of  Israel.  Meaning  of  untold  and  indescrib- 
able importance  was  condensed  into  the  explosive 
language  he  used  in  order  to  arouse  Simon's  curi- 
osity, '*\Ve  have  found  the  Christ." 

He  suddenly  invoked  the  entire  power  of  the 
ancient  record.  The  passionate  longing  of  many  a 
generation  was  concentrated  into  one  utterance.  Dur- 
ing forty  centuries,  never  had  any  devout  Hebrew 
mother  fastened  her  first  eager  look  upon  her  new-born 
infant  without  solemnly  wondering  whether  it  might 
not  be  her  child  which  should  be  the  "Seed  of  the 
w^oman  *'  that  should  according  to  the  promise  made 
in  Paradise  "  bruise  the  serpent's  head." 

The  visions  of  the  prophets,  the  inspired  symbols 
of  the  ceremonial  law,  the  fervid  predictions  of  the 
singing  psalmists,  all  pointed  towards  one  luminous 
Star  which  was  hanging  out  in  the  future  over  where 
Immanuel  should  be  born.  We  can  well  imagine 
how  Andrew's  eye  would  flash,  how  his  cheek  would 
glow,  with  the  intensity  of  his  excited  enthusiasm,  as  he 
rapidly  rehearsed  these  now  familiar  words  in  the  car 
of  the  listening  Simon.  That  mysterious  night  with 
Jesus  had  wrought  in  his  own  mind  the  absolute  ful- 
ness of  a  profound  conviction — ^just  that  which  always 
inspires  the  sentences  of  human  speech  with  indispu- 


io8  SIMON  teter: 

table  force.  Never  fell  a  more  weighty  announce- 
ment upon  mortal  ear  than  that  which  he  now  spoke 
in  the  hearing  of  his  brother.  It  was  the  world's 
glad  "  Eureka  "  after  its  four  thousand  years  of 
puzzle  over  its  worst  problems. 

Hence  this  little  formula  of  great  meaning  served 
the  strict  purpose  ofa  primitive  creed  to  those  new  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus.  It  was  the  confession  of  Andrew's  faith 
when  he  repeated  it  to  Simon,  and  Philip  took  it  up 
easily  when  he  made  announcement  to  Nathanael : 
**  We  have  found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and 
the  prophets  did  write — Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of 
Joseph  !" 

Just  now  our  story  leads  us  forward  a  step.  An- 
drew's duty  was  not  yet  done.  In  every  true  con- 
version much  more  is  demanded  than  a  bare  intel- 
lectual acceptance  of  the  articles  of  a  creed  : 

**  Cold  belief  is  not  conviction  ;  rules  are  impotent  to  move ; 

Let  me  see  the  Saviour's  beauty,  let  me  learn  his  depths  of  love; 
Let  the  light  illume  my  darkness   which  around  the  apostle  shone ; 
Lee  me  gaze  upon  thy  glory — change  to  flesh  this  heart  of  stone." 

The  sovereign  act,  by  which  a  human  being  re- 
ceives a  divine  being  as  an  indwellcr,  so  that  as  a 
fact  the  Holy  Spirit  becomes  permanently  resident 
in  his  soul,  is  in  all  cases  alike  an  inscrutable  mys- 
tery. But  there  are  spiritual  processes  leading 
up  to  it  and  increments  of  increase  on  beyond  it. 
Hence  we  must  always  recognize  what  are  denomi- 
nated the  means  of  grace. 

We  have  already  noted  with  sincere  admiration 
the   means    employed  by  Andrew   in    leading   his 


THE   FINDING   OF   SLMON.  IO9 

brother  to  Jesus.  Their  wise  simplicity  affords  an 
ample  explanation  of  their  wonderful  success. 

There  were  only  two  of  them  :  first,  he  taught  him  ; 
then,  he  brought  him.  He  plied  instruction,  then  he 
used  persuasion. 

We  should  have  been  surprised  had  this  been 
otherwise ;  for  a  man  like  Simon  does  not  yield  his 
heart  to  the  gospel  easily.  If  this  man  in  particular 
had  surrendered  his  life  without  a  conflict,  certainly 
it  would  have  been  the  only  instance  we  should  ever 
have  known  of  his  surrendering  anything  without  a 
good  deal  beforehand  to  be  said.  Peter  was  obsti- 
nate and  opinionated  in  the  presence  of  his  equals ; 
he  was  complaisant  and  civil  only  in  the  presence  of 
those  above  him  or  below  him.  Jesus  often  could 
check  him,  and  the  maid-servant  could  provoke  him  ; 
and  in  the  early  years  of  his  discipleship  he  bent  with 
about  the  same  obsequiousness  to  the  rebuke  of  the 
one  and  the  taunt  of  the  other.  But  from  those  as- 
sociates who  were  his  natural  comrades,  Peter  would 
not  willingly  receive  advice ;  he  reckoned  himself 
among  the  leaders,  not  the  led. 

Hence  we  are  inclined  to  lay  some  stress  upon  this 
word  in  the  Scripture  story,  when  we  are  told  that 
Andrew  *'  brought "  him  to  the  Saviour,  as  if  it 
really  might  imply  a  measure  of  strenuous  exertion, 
or  force  of  argument,  or  pressure  of  fraternal  affection. 
We  do  seriously  believe  that  he  accompanied  the  pre- 
sentation of  an  intellectual  disclosure  of  truth  with 
the  energy  of  affectionate  entreaty  and  the  solicitude 
of  a  strong  desire. 


no  SIMON  peter: 

Of  course,  we  understand  that  the  Spirit  of  divine 
grace  was  present  and  efficient  in  the  whole  trans- 
action. God  himself,  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  person  sent  An- 
drew back  in  search  of  his  brother,  making  him  the  ear- 
liest apostle  among  the  disciples.  He  must  have  so 
aided  him  in  the  presentation  of  doctrine  and  the 
marshaling  of  motives  in  accepting  it,  while  he  talked 
with  him,  as  that  this  Simon,  slow  and  stubborn  to 
follow  others  at  any  time,  should  now  be  willing  to  go 
where  this  new  preacher  was  waiting  to  receive  him. 


CHAPTER  XL 

SIMON    BECOMES    PETER. 

The  first  human  being  that  ever  had  need  of  a 
Saviour  was  a  man  called  Adam ;  and  that  name 
means — a  man.  The  first  human  being  that  ever  found 
a  Saviour  was  a  man  called  Andrew,  and  that  name  also 
means — a  man.  Humanity  cries  out  unto  God,  and  to 
humanity  God  answers.  But  the  first  man  went  on 
distributing  his  calamity  of  sin,  while  the  second  man 
started  to  tell  of  salvation. 

We  have  already  seen  how  Andrew  made  his 
mark — a  single  and  noteworthy  mark — when  he  was 
honorably  entrusted  with  the  task  of  leading  Simon 
Peter  out  into  the  new  life.  He  became  conspicuous  as 
an  instrument  in  entering  this  apostle  on  a  public  career. 

The  picture  suggested  in  the  New  Testament  nar- 
rative grows  from  this  moment  very  interesting  and 
graphic.  Together  these  two  Bethsaida  brothers 
advanced  most  unconsciously  In  their  spiritual  his- 
tory, as  they  went  forward  on  their  way  towards  that 
modest  abode — one  could  wish  we  knew  just  where  it 
was — which  Andrew  and  John  had  left  early  that 
morning.  Assured  of  an  Immediate  admission  by  the 
grace  displayed  before,  they  entered  the  presence  of 
the  Lord.    Simon  at  last  stands  face  to  face  with  Jesus. 

It  is  always  a  most  impressive  moment,  that  in 
which  two  historic  persons  meet  for  the  first  time. 
This  earliest  glimpse  of  the  Nazarene  Rabbi  fixed  all 
that    fisherman's    future.       What   must  Simon   have 


112  SIMON  peter: 

thought  of  him!  How  memorable  such  an  interview! 
Yet  no  record  has  been  made  of  it  beyond  these  few 
sentences  now  under  our  study.  "When  Jesus 
beheld  him,  he  said,  Thou  art  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona; 
thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas,  which  is,  by  interpreta- 
tion, a  stone."  Still,  we  cannot  doubt  that  Simon's 
reflections  took  the  shape  of  that  startling  suggestion 
offered  by  Andrew  which  had  brought  him  to  the 
spot.  Here  at  the  last — through  all  the  windings  of 
intricate  and  mighty  history — it  was  permitted  to  his 
own  eyes  to  see  the  Desire  of  all  nations,  the  Shiloh 
of  Israel !  Here  he  was  now  standing  before  the  Rod 
out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  which  was  the  promised  Plant 
of  renown,  the  Wonderful,  the  Counselor!  A  mortal 
might  look  upon  Immanuel,  son  of  David,  son  of  God! 
•  The  old  painters  have  had  a  tradition  among  them 
— nobody  is  certain  where  they  got  it,  nor  whether  it 
can  possibly  be  authentic — which  has  always  outlined 
their  conceptions  of  the  personal  appearance  of  Simon 
Peter.  His  frame  was  strong  and  burly,  grown  sinewy 
from  the  exposure  of  his  life  and  calling.  Dark 
and  piercing,  his  quick  eye  looked  out  wistfully  from 
under  a  heavy  bluff  of  forehead.  His  hair  was  short, 
crisp,  and  curly,  black  at  first,  now  just  sprinkling 
with  gray.  He  was  then,  as  nearly  as  we  can  con- 
jecture, about  forty  years  old  ;  in  the  very  prime  of 
life,  somewhat  uncouth  in  manners,  rough  in  mien, 
but  a  grand,  forceful,  noble-hearted,  impulsive  toiler 
from  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Hoav  little  he  had  to  com- 
mend him  to  Christ!  No  station,  no  education,  no 
patronage,  no  wealth,  no  human  promise  whatsoever. 


SIMON    BECOMES    PETER.  II3 

And  yet  what  heartiness  there  was   in  the  welcome 
he  instantly  received ! 

Our  Lord  followed  the  Old  Testament  precedent. 
As  Abram  was  re-named  Abraham,  and  as  Jacob 
was  re-named  Israel,  so  now  Simon  was  rc-namcd 
Cephas,  or  Peter.  And  the  question  arises.  What 
did  that  mean  ? 

Among  the  Hebrews,  even  from  the  earliest  ages, 
names  were  always  chosen  for  the  sake  of  a  signifi- 
cance they  bore.  Sometimes  they  described  the 
character  or  demeanor  of  the  child,  possibly  even  the 
personal  appearance  or  graces.  More  frequently 
they  acted  as  memorials  of  an  incident  in  family  his- 
tory. Names  were  all  designed  to  express  an  idea. 
Hopes  and  reminiscences,  wishes  and  intentions  and 
plans  for  the  future,  were  embodied  in  them.  To 
alter  an  adult's  name,  therefore,  was  equivalent  to  the 
assertion  of  a  modification  of  the  individual,  to  a 
changing  in  some  way  of  the  purpose  or  direction  of 
his  entire  life.      It  became  a  memorial  of  that  change. 

That  Simon  Peter  interposed  no  objection  at  this 
point  is  an  evidence  of  his  immediate  subjection  to 
Christ.  There  must  have  been  something  unusual 
in  our  Lord's  manner.  ''Jesus  beheld  him."  The 
word  here  rendered  hclLcld  is  singularly  specific.  It 
means  a  great  deal  more  than  merely  that  he  fixed 
his  eye  steadily  and  intently  upon  his  visitor,  as  if 
he  would  read  his  soul  through  and  through.  No 
doubt  Jesus  met  a  look  in  return  from  Simon  full  of  hon- 
est reverence  and  surrender,  a  resolute  and  unutterably 
earnest  devotion  of  self  thereafter  and    forever  to  his 


1 1 4  SIMON  peter: 

service.  At  such  a  moment  it  Is  likely  that  Simon 
accepted  In  his  own  behalf  the  name  for  Jesus  which 
Andrew  and  John  had  already  applied  to  him — 
"  Master,"  that  name  grown  so  welcome  to  every 
Christian  ear  in  the  ages  since,  that  name  commended 
even  by  Jesus  who  received  It :  "  Ye  call  me  Master 
and  Lord  ;  and  ye  say  well ;  for  so  I  am."  Most 
joyfully  sings  old  George  Herbert  as  he  reads  the 
meaning  of  the  word  : 

"  How  sweetly  doth  *My  Master'  sound!   My  Master! 
As  ambergris  leaves  a  rich  scent 

Unto  the  taster, 
So  do  these  words  a  sweet  content, 
An  oriental  fragrancy — '  My  Master  !'  " 

The  first  words  of  our  Lord  to  Simon  must  have 
astonished  an  imperious  mind  like  his;  for  here  was 
one  who  assumed  the  unquestionable  right  to  change 
the  name  he  had  always  been  called  by:  ''Thou 
shalt  be  called  Cephas,  which  is,  by  interpretation,  a 
stone." 

With  perhaps  a  kind  of  play  upon  his  father's  name, 
also,  the  word  Jona  meaning  a  Dovc\  Jesus  in  effect 
says  to  this  fisherman, 

''Out  of  weakness,  I  make  thee  strong;  Son  of  a 
Dove,  hereafter  become  a  Rock!" 

One  of  the  German  commentators  gives  us  what 
he  considers  a  paraphrase  of  the  Saviour's  language 
thus:  "Thou  art  Simon,  the  son  of  the  shy  Dove  of 
the  Rock;  henceforth  thou  shalt  be  called  the  pro- 
tecting Rock  of  the  Dove!" 


SIMON   BECOMES    PETER.  II5 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  there  passed  much  more  con- 
versation between  Peter  and  Jesus,  and  it  may  have 
been  late  when  they  parted.  If  any  one  should  ask 
at  this  juncture,  When  did  Simon  become  experiment- 
ally a  Christian?  we  think  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that 
the  real  turning-point  of  his  life  was  reached  at  that 
particular  moment  when  his  look  met  the  look  of 
Jesus.  For  this  glance  of  divine  mastership  was  not 
only  one  of  those  mental  miracles  by  which  our  Lord 
immediately  discovered  character,  but  also  one  of 
those  spiritual  miracles  by  which  he  changed  it.  We 
cannot  help  recalling,  out  of  our  familiarity  with  the 
subsequent  record  of  this  disciple's  history,  that  it  was 
just  another  ''look"  from  the  same  wonderful  eyes 
which  sent  him  forth  from  the  scene  of  the  denial  a 
penitent,  an  humbled  and  an  altered  man. 

Simon's  instantaneous  acceptance  of  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah  of  his  nation,  and  the  Saviour  of  his  soul, 
was  perfectly  characteristic.  In  that  supreme  surren- 
der of  his  whole  being,  most  likely,  his  heart  was 
changed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  new  purpose 
of  life  began  to  rule  his  career.  For,  as  has  been  in- 
timated, this  is  the  universal  significance  of  all  these 
stories  of  changing  the  names  of  people  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. As  soon  as  Simon  was  called  Peter,  he  *'put 
off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and  put  on  the  new 
man,  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image 
of  him  that  created  him."  Thenceforward  he  was  "a 
new  creature." 

Thus  much  in  general  terms  as  to  the  bestowment 
of  a  new  personal  name  upon  this  disciple.      It  may 


Il6  SIMON    PETER: 

be  worth  while  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments  of  study 
upon  the  form  of  the  name  itself  The  ordinary  read- 
er of  our  English  Scriptures  may  be  confused  to  find 
that  here  our  Lord  does  not  call  his  follower  Peter 
after  all,  but  ''Cephas."  And  further:  this  last  seems 
to  be  the  appellation  which  the  apostle  Paul  also  al- 
most invariably  prefers  in  speaking  of  his  associate. 
He  uses  Peter  in  only  one  instance — when  writing  to 
the  Galatians;  and  scholars  tell  us  that  the  oldest 
manuscripts  insert  Cephas  even  there  as  the  correct 
reading.  It  is  important  to  recollect  that  Cephas  is 
the  same  as  Peter;  that  is,  Cephas  in  the  Aramaic 
language  —  the  old  language  of  Palestine — means 
Rock,  just  as  Peter  does  in  the  Greek.  Many  exposi- 
tors assert  that  in  ordinary  conversation  Jesus  most 
likely  used  the  Greek  tongue,  while  on  special  and 
solemn  occasions  he  employed  terms  from  the  ver- 
nacular patois  of  the  regions  where  his  early  life  had 
been  spent. 

We  must  not  leave  out  of  consideration  the  wise 
conjecture  that  this  play  upon  words  in  the  bestow- 
ment  of  a  name  is  logically  to  be  put  alongside  of 
that  other  familiar  instance  of  the  same  import,  ren- 
dered forever  historic  in  the  Protestant  conflict  with 
arrogance  In  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  Is  discreet  to 
say  that  such  an  appellation  was  designed  to  be  a 
prophecy  of  the  future  work  and  position  of  Simon 
Peter,  as  the  apostle,  above  all  others,  whom  our 
Lord  chose  to  lay  the  organic  foundations  of 
the  New  Testament  church.  For  this  Peter  did, 
among  the  Jews  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  and  in  due 


SIMON    IJECOMES    PETER.  '  11/ 

time  among  the   Gentiles  likewise  by  the  conversion 
of  Cornelius  and  of  those  baptized  at  Caesarea. 

This  is  not  the  time  and  place  for  any  exhaustive 
discussion  of  such  a  matter.  We  need  only  say  now, 
it  cannot  be  that  Christ  intended  to  bestow  upon  this 
disciple  at  this  early  moment  either  a  supremacy 
over  all  the  rest  in  point  of  authority,  or  a  universal 
sovereignty  in  the  visible  church  of  the  future.  The 
pretensions  which  have  been  founded  upon  the  use 
of  this  name  would  be  ridiculous,  if  they  had  not  been 
accepted  by  the  easy  world  in  its  darkest  ages,  so  far 
as  latterly  to  become  gigantic. 

One  of  the  earliest  questions  which  the  cardinals 
put,  when  each  new  pope  is  elected  in  the  Roman 
hierarchy,  is  this  :  "  What  is  the  name  by  which  thou 
wilt  be  pleased  to  be  called  ?"  Thus  is  preserved 
what  some  one  has  designated  as  a  ''fond  imitation  " 
in  the  installation  of  each  successor  of  Peter  in  the 
apostolic  chair. 

But  even  this  is  a  late  invention,  and  is  said  to 
have  had  a  somewhat  comical  origin.  For  it  dates 
back  no  further  than  the  papal  election  of  the  year 
844.  Then  it  is  recorded  that  one  who  assumed 
the  office  of  pope  had  two  misfortunes  at  once  to  deal 
with  in  his  name.  It  was  Peter  di  Bocca-Porco — • 
which,  being  interpreted,  means  Peter  of  the  Swine's 
Mouth.  This  man  said  he  deemed  it  an  irreverence 
to  be  called  Peter,  for  no  person  could  be  admitted 
worthy  to  bear  the  august  appellation  which  that 
apostle  had  primarily  received  from  the  Lord.  And 
he  probably  had  a  clearer  reason  for  not  desiring  to 


ii8  SIMON  peter: 

be  addressed  as  *'  His  Holiness  of  the  Swine's  Mouth." 
Hence  they  crowned  him  as  Sergius  H.  Since  that 
time,  all  those  who  have  been  elected  to  the  papal 
monarchy  have  in  turn  changed  their  old  names  for 
a  new  ;  but  it  has  never  been  stated  in  history  that 
any  one  of  them  has  chosen  to  be  called  Peter. 

Let  us  come  back  once  more  to  the  picture  before 
us  here  now  in  the  sacred  story.  Let  us  take  a  fresh 
look  at  this  man,  Jonas'  son,  as  his  brother  Andrew 
leads  him  in,  and  leaves  him  standing  in  the  presence 
of  Jesus.  Why  call  so  inconsistent  and  fitful  a  man  a 
Rock  at  all  ?     Did  our  Lord  appreciate  what  he  was? 

Leave  out  of  notice  all  the  worldly  surroundings 
of  this  singular  fisherman.  There  remains  enough 
to  excite  our  wonder  in  the  single  fact  that  Jesus  did 
foreknow  his  entire  biography,  as  a  student  of  the 
New  Testament  would  rehearse  it  now.  When  he 
said  to  him,  "Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona,"  it 
vv^as  as  if  he  had  suddenly  announced,  ''  I  know  you, 
and  understand  all  about  you." 

If  any  one  is  unwilling  to  consider  it  a  proof  of  divine 
omniscience  that  Christ  appeared  acquainted  with 
Simon  from  the  opening  of  the  interview,  and  that 
he  recognized  him  the  moment  he  was  led  in ;  if  any 
one  feels  ready  to  assert,  when  he  hears  Jesus  call 
the  man  by  his  own  name  as  he  did,  that  Andrew 
quite  possibly  had  told  it  to  him  on  the  occasion  of  the 
night- visit  beforehand  ;  then — this  instance  being  re- 
jected— there  still  will  remain  the  unexplained  and 
unquestionable  story  of  Nathanael,  equally  clear 
and    equally    marvelous.      That   **  Israelite   without 


SIMON    BECOMES    PETER.  I  IQ 

guile  "  was  so  astonished,  when  Jesus  addressed  him, 
that  he  asked,  **  Whence  knowest  thou  me  ?"  Our 
Lord  told  him  in  reply  that  even  before  Philip  had 
looked  him  up,  he  had  seen  him  under  the  fig-tree. 

It  is  a  mere  impertinence  to  call  such  recognitions 
*'an  innocent  artifice,"  and  compare  Jesus  in  them 
to  Joan  of  Arc,  as  one  who  was  in  the  habit  of  aver- 
ring that  he  knew  something  which  intimately  con- 
cerned him  whom  he  wished  to  win,  or  who  would 
seem  to  recall  some  circumstance  dear  to  his  heart  in 
order  to  gain  an  influence.  It  is  inconsistent  with 
the  genial  frankness  which  Jesus  displayed  in  all  his 
friendships  to  imagine  that  he  busied  himself  private- 
ly in  picking  up  such  little  pieces  of  information  con- 
cerning strangers,  in  order  that  on  becoming  ac- 
quainted he  might  arouse  attention  by  springing  upon 
themflatteringsurprlses.  Rather  would  we  believe  that 
our  Lord  divinely  knew,  measured,  and  registered 
every  man  he  met.  This  was  the  way  in  which  the 
disciples  themselves  understood  it  ;  for  John  tells  us 
explicitly  that  ''Jesus  knew  all  men,  and  needed  not 
that  any  should  testify  of  man :  for  he  knew  what 
was  in  man."  He  thoroughly  comprehended  what 
he  was  doing,  when  he  welcomed  such  a  person  as 
Simon,  abruptly  made  free  to  change  his  name  on 
the  spot,  and  even  gave  hint  of  his  office. 

With  this  man's  after  history  before  us,  how  aston- 
ishing all  this  seems  !  He  has  nothing  that  we  know 
of  to  fit  him  for  the  gospel  ministry,  but  a  conjectural 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  gained  in  his  early  life. 

He  appears  unsophisticated  and  original  enough 
6 


I20  SIMON    PETER: 

for  our  study  as  a  new  specimen  of  human  nature. 
Coarse  and  opinionated  ;  perhaps  unusually  skilful  in 
the  billingsgate  of  that  upper  country;  boisterous 
and  loud  in  the  fish  markets  of  Capernaum ;  there  is 
reason  to  believe  he  used  even  to  swear  when  at 
home,  so  easily  did  he  subsequently  lapse  into  the 
habit. 

It  may  have  been  that  our  Lord  searched  through 
the  mere  surface-weakness  of  this  as  yet  untrained 
and  undisciplined  temper  of  a  genuine  man,  and  dis- 
covered the  real  firmness  of  his  character,  the  fear- 
lessness and  stability  which  under  grace  it  might, 
and  one  day  would,  attain,  the  resolution  and  solidity 
it  would  settle  into,  the  inflexibility  of  unalterable 
purpose  it  would  at  last  exhibit.  Simon  was  not 
going  to  deserve  this  new  name  for  many  sad  months 
to  come.  But  in  the  end  the  world  would  see  that 
he  was  a  Rock,  which  would  be  immovable  when  it 
should  rest  on  the  Rock  of  Ages. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    SCHOOL    OF    GRACE. 

Of  two  brothers — the  first  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament — one  murdered  the  other.  Of  two 
brothers — the  first  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament 
— the  one  brought  the  other  to  Jesus.  It  is  an  easy 
question  to  answer,  which  of  these  was  worthiest  of 
the  name  of  his  **  brother's  keeper  "  in  the  annals  of 
the  race. 

Since  that  memorable  morning,  when  Simon  Peter 
earliest  came  under  our  notice  as  a  Christian  man, 
and  stood  in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  shining  with  the 
light  of  the  new  life  on  his  forehead,  many  stirring 
events  have  passed  into  history.  Jesus  has  been  up 
to  Cana  and  wrought  a  notable  miracle ;  he  has 
visited  Jerusalem,  and  at  a  public  feast  has  driven  the 
traders  out  of  his  Father's  house  ;  he  has  announced 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration  to  his  interesting  audience 
of  one,  in  that  midnight  conversation  with  NIcodemus ; 
he  has  sent  the  converted  Samaritan  woman  back  into 
her  city,  and  she  has  gathered  scores  of  disciples  for 
the  Messiah ;  he  has  healed  a  nobleman's  child  at  the 
point  of  death  ;  he  has  made  a  successless  demonstra- 
tion at  Nazareth  ;  rejected  there,  he  has  established  his 
residence  at  Capernaum  ;  here  we  meet  him  again 
among  the  fishermen,  where  he  is  already  preaching 
and  laboring  for  the  Kingdom. 

"  And  Jesus  walking  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  saw  two 


122  SIMON    PETER  : 

brethren,  Simon  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother, 
casting  a  net  into  the  sea;  for  they  were  fishers." 

The  point  of  time,  at  which  these  words  enter  the 
record,  is  to  be  dated  somewhat  over  a  year  after  the 
arrest  and  imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist.  It  be- 
comes an  interesting  question  where  the  two  brothers 
mentioned  had  been  in  the  meantime,  and  how  occu- 
pied. 

For  some  weeks  after  our  Lord's  baptism,  the  nar- 
rative fails.  Jesus  appears  to  have  retired  into  seclu- 
sion. These  disciples,  acquaintance  with  whom  he 
first  made  in  Judaea,  returned  before  long  to  their 
home  in  Bethsaida  where  they  had  been  living,  and 
resumed  their  occupation.  But  never  after  this  were 
they  what  in  previous  years  they  had  been;  for  now 
they  were  the  true  children  of  God. 

There  is  an  ineffable  mystery  and  grandeur  in  this 
new  life  which  is  by  Christ.  It  lifts,  it  ennobles,  it 
illuminates,  an  entire  history  and  character.  We  see 
that  young  workingman  Andrew  suddenly  made  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel.  He  had  been  the  means  of 
conversion  to  another  soul  than  his  own.  What  was 
Andrew  only  one  short  month  before?  And  what 
was  John?     And  what  was  Simon  Peter? 

Three  fishers  went  out  on  a  journey  of  curious 
seeking  for  a  strange  prophet,  of  whom  they  had 
heard  great  things  even  so  far  away  as  Capernaum. 
They  left  their  nets  drying  on  the  beach  at  the  haunts 
in  Bethsaida,  while  they  should  go  down  to  the  Jor- 
dan. Nobody  ever  talked  about  these  simple  neigh- 
bors before.     No  gleam  of  promise  rested  over  their 


THE    SCHOOL    OF    GRACE.  1 23 

future.  They  had  no  cultivation  of  mind,  no  graces 
of  manners.  Yet  note  how  changed  in  everything 
they  had  returned  from  that  visit.  What  a  world  of 
difference  it  had  made  to  them  all  that  they  went  in 
company  to  Bethabara,  where  John  the  Baptist  was 
preaching!  How  they  would  comfort  each  other 
now! 

Bethsaida  must  have  rung  with  the  glad  tidings  when 
these  familiar  voices  announced  as  they  came  back,  that 
they  had  found  and  seen  the  great  Messiah  of  their 
nation.  But  we  cannot  conceal  our  surmise  that  their 
testimony  simply  brought  them  into  ridicule  and  con- 
tradiction all  around  the  lake.  And  we  presume 
that,  as  months  glided  along,  it  became  a  sore  subject 
among  the  doubting  townsmen,  and  these  friends 
were  drawn  closer  and  closer  to  each  other  by  an  oc^ 
casional  slight  of  reproach.  But  how  they  would  en- 
joy the  sweet  company  of  those  who  believed  them! 
On  all  that  sheet  of  water — in  all  those  little  villages 
by  the  beach — how  many  were  the  busy  boats, 
thronged  with  toiling  men!  Yet  in  all  Fishing- town 
only  an  unnoticed  band  of  just  three  fishers  represent- 
ed the  New  Testament  church;  for  only  these  were 
Christians  by  the  acceptance  of  Christ. 

It  could  be  wished  that  we  knew  when  Salome  and 
Zebedee,  Philip  and  James,  gave  their  adherence  to 
the  same  truth  and  entered  the  new  life.  It  seems 
pleasant  to  think  of  those  seven  people  at  last  hav- 
ing a  sort  of  companionship  in  Christ  there  in 
Galilee. 

Imagine    the   joyous    communings   of  spirit   they 


124  SIMON    PETER: 

would  have  with  each  other,  when  no  one  was  by  to 
disturb  them  with  jibes  of  unbehef.  Quiet,  tender, 
long-remembered  hours  they  would  talk  together  out 
upon  the  beautiful  waters  on  that  inland  sea.  How 
glad  Andrew  was  in  Peter;  how  grateful  Peter  was 
to  Andrew !  We  wonder  at  what  date  it  was,  when 
Andrew  began  to  call  his  brother  by  the  new  name 
Jesus  gave  him,  and  whether  he  ever  dared  to  do  it 
'in  the  unsympathetic  presence  of  those  Bethsaida 
neighbors. 

Alone  by  themselves,  that  story,  which  was  never 
to  grow  old,  would  be  rehearsed  whenever  they  met. 
It  would  be  conversed  about  with  partners  and  rela- 
tives who  were  willing  to  listen: — How  they  first  saw 
John  the  Baptist,  that  haggard  preacher  who  reminded 
everybody  so  much  of  Elijah,  the  moment  men  fixed 
their  eyes  on  him — how  sometimes  they  even  sur- 
mised that  he,  this  man  in  camel's  hair  raiment,  might 
be  himself  the  Messiah  in  disguise — how  he  compelled 
them  seriously  to  see  and  sorrow  over  their  sins;  then 
led  them  openly  to  resolve  they  would  henceforth  try 
to  lead  a  truer  and  a  better  life — and  how  on  that 
wonderful  morning  Jesus  came  by,  and  John  pointed 
him  out;  and  then  Andrew  and  Zebedee's  John 
Avent  over  to  find  out  about  him,  and  Andrew  came 
back  afterwards  for  Simon.  Oh,  how  providential  it 
all  appeared  now,  as  they  looked  over  it  afresh,  and  at 
last  understood  its  bearing  on  their  history. 

The  highest  work  a  man  ever  does  in  this  world,  i^ 
done  when  he  goes  himself  first  to  Jesus,  and  then 
leads  another  man  to  him.     The  hopes  are  all  bright 


THE  SCHOOL  of  grace.  125 

— the  purposes  and  the  plans — the  themes  of  con- 
verse and  the  means  of  enjoyment — all  are  grand  and 
lasting  forever.  No  changeable  affection  was  it  after 
that  which  kept  Andrew  and  Simon  always  together. 
We  talk  of  trees  planted,  and  institutions  founded, 
and  churches  builded,  and  monuments  erected  :  but 
better  than  all  is  a  life  redeemed  and  started  into 
Christian  work  for  the  race  of  lost  men,  as  Andrew 
started  Simon's. 

Still,  this  is  not  all.  These  fishermen  appear  also 
to  have  been  kept  in  some  sort  of  communication 
with  Jesus  in  person.  It  is  recorded  that  a  few  of 
the  disciples  were  with  him  when  he  performed  that 
first  miracle  at  Cana  of  Galilee.  Nazareth,  his  early 
home,  was  not  far  away  from  Bethsaida.  Before  he 
came  into  Capernaum  to  live,  they  may  easily  have 
journeyed  to  meet  him,  or  he  in  turn  come  to  them. 
And  certainly,  when  he  settled  near  the  Sea  of  Tibe- 
rias, the  whole  company  of  them  might  frequently 
have  been  in  his  companionship  in  the  market  town 
where  they  sold  their  gains. 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  likely  that  Jesus  passed 
this  intervening  period  as  many  of  the  Jewish  Rab- 
bins did  at  that  day.  They  were  religious  teachers 
at  large,  and  were  wont  to  collect  classes  of  pupils, 
whom  they  orally  instructed,  and  whom  in  their  turn 
they  sent  forth  to  promulgate  the  doctrines  they 
instilled.  Their  custom  was  to  lecture,  and  then 
invite  those  who  listened  to  ask  questions.  Thus 
always  they  piqued  their  curiosity,  challenging  their 
dialectic  skill  with   puzzles  and    allegories — indeed. 


1  20  SIMON    I'ETER  : 

the  same  i:^ciicral  class  of  stories  whicli,  in  our  Lord's 
histor)',  wc  are  accustonietl  to  call  parables.  They 
used  to  wander  around  from  town  to  town  ;  and  their 
scholars  would  come  to  them,  or  go  with  them,  some- 
times sitting;  at  their  feet  for  a  fresh  lesson,  sometimes 
cxpoundini;  to  little  companies  around  themselves 
the  lessons  already  learned.  A  custom  similar  to 
this  prevailed  through  all  the  region.  The  likelihood 
is  that  our  di\ine  Lord  quietly  accepted  the  usages 
of  his  time,  and  that  these  friendly  fishermen,  during 
those  eighteen  or  nineteen  months,  came  continually 
into  contact  with  him,  and  were  carefully  taught  in 
the  gospel  from  his  own  lips. 

Hence  we  see  it  was  no  loss  to  Simon  Peter  or 
the  rest  that  they  had  been  allowed  thus  to  live  and 
learn  for  a  season,  before  they  were  called  forth 
into  independently  responsible  work.  They  serve 
who  wait.  Nor  was  this  unusual.  All  readers  of 
Scripture  histor}'  must  have  observed  how  often  it 
was  ordered  that  the  chosen  agents  of  divine  plans 
who  disclosed  themselves  eventually  as  men  of  mark 
should  have  a  retired  period  of  quiet  meditation  and 
study  soon  after  the  first  designation  of  their  li\'es  to 
special  service.  Time  lost  in  action  was  made  up 
subsequently  in  force. 

For  some  )-ears  following  his  official  anointing 
David  needed  all  the  disciplines  of  strange  outlaw 
life  to  fit  him  to  be  a  king.  Saul  of  Tarsus  is  believed 
to  have  delayed  three  entire  seasons  in  Arabia,  before 
lie  was  publicly  joined  to  the  apostles.  Moses,  for  a 
third  of  his  whole   history,  dwelt  in   IMidian,  making 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  GKACK.  12/ 

ready  to  be  a  fitting  leader  to  bring  up  God's   people 
out  of  Pharaoh's  hand. 

So  here :  Simon  Peter  seems  to  have  been  left  for 
further  instruction  and  thought,  before  he  was  sum- 
moned irrevocably  from  his  ordinary  calling  and 
entrusted  with  the  great  charge  of  becoming  a  fisher 
of  men.  When  the  Lord  was  ready  for  him,  he  was 
more  nearly  ready  for  his  oflice  ;  and  then  the  call 
was  unhesitatingly  made.  Although  it  fright- 
ened him  at  first,  we  shall  see  that  it  found  Simon 
far  more  trustworthy  as  well  as  more  intelligently 
willing. 

There  can  be  no  harm  in  pausing  here  long  enough 
to  say  that  a  practical  lesson  of  vast  importance  is 
given  in  this  part  of  the  sacred  story.  Simon  Peter's 
docility  at  this  crisis  of  his  career  is  calculated  to 
check  and  rebuke  that  impatient  and  restless  disposi- 
tion of  modern  young  Christian  workers  who  are  in 
course  of  ordinary  training  for  duty.  One  may  be 
anxious  to  be  out  in  the  fame  of  public  teaching  now, 
when  rather  he  ought  to  be  patiently  amassing  ex- 
perience and  materials  in  his  preparation ;  for  no 
one  is  able  to  talk  the  celestial  language  well  who 
has  not  first  acquired  the  alphabet  and  mastered 
laboriously  some  of  the  inflections. 

The  thought  will  reach  higher  than  this.  A  great 
man  once  averred  that  if  there  were  given  him  but 
four  years  for  work  in  the  pulpit  he  would  use  three 
of  them  in  just  making  ready  to  preach.  One  may 
fret  to  be  out  in  the  world  before  he  is  disciplined  ; 

but  such  men  often  fret  more  to  be  out    of  the    field 
6* 


128  SIMON   teter: 

afterwards.  It  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  mention 
one  preacher  who  has  ever  lamented  he  pursued  the 
whole  curriculum  of  study  ;  but  we  have  all  known 
a  score  who  mourned  that  they  ever  so  much  as 
heard  of  the  popular  short-cuts  to  the  pulpit  through 
which  they  entered  it. 

Simon  Peter  was  gradually  becoming  acquainted 
with  his  Master  and  Lord,  during  the  progress  of  all 
those  interesting  interviews  by  the  sea.  He  was 
opening  his  eyes  to  vast  issues  and  learning  more 
and  more  of  the  grandeur  of  this  world's  redemption 
to  holiness  and  obedience.  He  was  coupling  the  stern 
demands  of  the  Baptist  with  the  gracious  reliefs  of 
gospel  mercy.  He  was  beginning  to  behold  the  good- 
ness and  severity  of  God.  And  it  would  have  altered 
the  whole  direction  and  tenor  of  his  life  if  he  had  been 
abruptly  advanced  to  that  front  place  he  was  event- 
ually to  occupy. 

But  there  is  an  end  to  everything,  as  there  is  a 
beginning.  The  time  for  the  man's  coming  into 
public  life  was  drawing  nearer.  When  Jesus  appeared 
on  the  beach,  that  November  morning,  it  was  no 
longer  as  a  despised  and  unnoticed  Nazarene.  A 
great  wave  of  popular  favor  was  running  in  his  be- 
half. The  first  year  of  our  Lord's  ministry  in  Gal- 
ilee was  an  emphatic  success.  The  whole  population 
was  stirred  into  excitement.  The  people  thronged 
him  in  the  synagogue  and  the  street.  At  any  mo- 
ment he  could  find  an  audience,  eager  to  hang  upon 
his  lips.  The  day  was  coming,  and  he  knew  it  very 
well,  in    w^hich    this    fickle    Capernaum    would    turn 


THE    SCHOOL    OF    GRACE.  1 29 

upon  him  wrathfully  and  spitefully.  But  just  now 
he  was  at  a  height  of  gracious  recognition,  which 
rendered  his  civilities  of  extraordinary  value.  The 
transitions  in  his  history  were  very  like  those  in  the 
natural  features  of  country  from  the  Jordan  to  the 
lake  in  Galilee.  Those  solemn  solitudes  around  the 
Dead  Sea  might  well  suit  the  somber  experiences  of 
his  temptation  and  the  hard  days  of  his  rejection  as 
a  prophet.  But  now  he  has  passed  up  into  the  sun- 
shine of  Gennesaret  :  and  human  beings,  as  well  as 
beautiful  landscapes,  seem  to  extend  to  him  a  pleas- 
ant welcome.      He  is  at  last  the  Great  Rabbi. 

This  is  the  exact  moment  he  chooses  to  unite  Simon 
Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  Bethsaida  disciples  close  to 
him  for  all  time.  He  suddenly  presents  himself,  in 
the  clear  dawning  of  the  day,  as  the  fishermen  are 
pulling  in  from  their  usual  toil  in  the  night. 

Let  imagination  draw  the  picture  which  rises  just 
here  out  of  the  scriptural  recital.  The  autumn  col- 
ors are  at  their  highest  splendor.  The  hills  are 
almost  alive  with  the  weird  phantasms  of  purple  and 
violet,  rose  and  gold,  which  are  delicately  chasing 
after  each  other  along  their  surface  of  gray  rock  as  the 
rising  sun  kindles  it.  The  fresh  breeze  ripples  the 
water  everywhere,  except  within  the  shore-line,  under 
the  lee  of  eastern  precipices,  whose  shadows  seem  to 
quiet  it  down.  The  walnut-trees  look  sober  in  the 
rich  green  of  their  foliage  ;  but  the  oleanders  have 
flashed  gloriously  into  flowers.  Some  tourists  say 
that  Gennesaret  is  a  commonplace  lake,  and  would 
be  deplorably  tame  but  for  its  touching  associations. 


I30  siMOx\  peter: 

Surely  such  persons  have  never  seen  it  in  the 
autumn. 

Jesus  has  come  down  upon  the  shore,  and  is  walk- 
ing along  silently,  watching  these  Bethsaida  brothers 
as  they  make  what  is,  in  all  likelihood,  a  final  and 
discouraged  cast  of  their  nets  for  the  unlucky  day. 
Perhaps  his  look  is  wistful  and  sympathetic  when 
his  eyes  detect  their  want  of  success.  But  other 
plans  are  in  his  busily  working  mind.  Of  what  was 
our  Lord  thinking?  No  one  can  venture  to  surmise. 
But  there  is  no  irreverence  in  our  supposing  the  day 
of  decision  was  now  reached  in  which  he  was  about 
deliberately  to  draw  this  Simon  with  the  new  name 
into  his  counsels  of  evangelization.  Disciple  he  had 
already  been  made ;  apostle  he  was  soon  to  become. 
One  moment  there  was — and  it  may  have  been  this 
one — in  which  Christ  said  to  himself,  as  he  afterwards 
said  to  Simon  : 

"Here,  then,  is  the  man  upon  whom  I  am  going 
to  lay  the  perilous  and  hard  work  of  establishing  my 
church  on  the  earth." 

To  some  very  good  people  such  a  choice  appears 
most  singular  and  astonishing  ;  for  they  will  insist 
on  thinking  of  Simon's  after-record  of  inconstancy 
and  rashness.  And  it  strikes  prudent  men  as  risky 
and  indiscreet  to  peril  so  much  on  so  little — to  go 
to  such  a  seashore  to  begin  Christianity,  and  to  start 
it  with  sailors. 

We  might  settle,  as  well  here  as  elsewhere,  one 
great  principle  in  God's  choice  of  men,  as  revealed 
to  us  in  his  word  :   the  divine  selection  of  agents   has 


THE    SCHOOL    OF   GRACE.  131 

always  been  based  upon  availability ,  and  not  upon 
goodness,  upon   efficiency  rather  than  upon  character. 

If  anybody  chooses  to  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that 
Jesus,  in  accepting  Simon  Peter  with  so  poor  a  pros- 
pect, intelHgently  made  choice  of  a  man  fairly  con- 
spicuous for  his  defects,  in  order  that  all  the  glory  of 
grand  success  in  the  future  should  necessarily  be 
given  to  God  where  it  belonged — it  might  not  be 
easy  to  admit  the  statement  with  immediate  acquies- 
cence; but  he  would  have  the  privilege  of  quoting 
most  appositely  for  his  purpose  die  familiar  text: 

"For  ye  see  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,  are  called:  but  God  hath  chosen  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise ;  and 
God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to 
confound  the  things  which  are  mighty;  and  base 
things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised, 
hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to 
bring  to  nought  things  that  are:  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  in  his  presence.  Because  the  foolishness  of 
God  is  wiser  than  men;  and  the  weakness  of  God  is 
stronger  than  men." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  SUCCESS. 

*'And  it  came  to  pass,  that  as  the  people  pressed 
upon  him  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  he  stood  by  the 
lake  of  Gennesaret,  and  saw  two  ships  standing  by 
the  lake:  but  the  fishermen  were  gone  out  of  them, 
and  were  washing  their  nets.  And  he  entered  into 
one  of  the  ships,  which  was  Simon's,  and  prayed  him 
that  he  would  thrust  out  a  little  from  the  land.  And 
he  sat  down,  and  taught  the  people  out  of  the  ship." 

It  seems  that  our  Lord  had  been,  as  usual,  preach- 
ing to  the  multitudes  w^iich  thronged  him  wherever 
he  w^ent.  These  curious  people  pressed  upon  him  so 
closely  that  he  became  inconvenienced  with  such  a 
crowd.  So  he  requested  Simon,  who  was  the  occu- 
pant and' owner  of  a  fishing-boat,  and  who  at  this 
moment  was  drying  his  seines  on  the  shore,  as  fast  as 
he  could  rinse  them  off  in  the  shallow  water,  to  let 
him  get  in  with  him,  and  to  push  out  a  little  from  the 
beach,  so  that  he  could  better  his  chance  of  speaking. 
Then  he  easily  went  on,  and  finished  his  discourse, 
sitting  on  the  thwart. 

But  when,  not  unlikely,  the  disciple  expected  to 
take  up  his  work  again,  Jesus  surprised  him  with 
another,  and  this  time  a  most  singular,  proposal.  The 
instant  he  ceased  preaching,  he  said: 

**  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your 
nets  for  a  draught." 

It  would  appear  that  when  our  Lord  made  this  pro- 


OBEDIENCE    AND    SUCCESS.  133 

posal  to  Simon,  the  other  disciples  came  at  once 
alongside  close  enough  to  overhear.  They  entered 
their  own  boat,  and  pulled  nearer  this  one.  We  can 
seem  to  see  the  small  company  now  as  they  gather 
around  the  vessel,  and  mark  that  unusual  request. 
Any  one  can  pick  out  Simon  Peter  earliest  for  a 
quick  recognition,  for  we  have  already  learned  to 
know  his  figure.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was 
tired;  looked  haggard  and  rough;  was  in  his  usual 
uncouth  every-day  costume. 

But  our  Lord  was  in  no  wise  ashamed  of  his  com- 
panionship, even  before  all  those  supercilious  Caper- 
naum people  ;  Jesus  never  did  cherish  any  aristo- 
cratic **  respect  of  persons."  Every  lawful  vocation 
honored  the  man  who  filled  it  faithfully.  And  why 
not  ?  He  made  no  denial  when  they  called  him  ''the 
carpenter's  son." 

In  the  other  boat  were  Simon's  *'  partners."  The 
work  is  so  heavy  sometimes  in  those  prolific  waters 
that  the  men,  down  to  the  present  day,  are  accustomed 
to  go  out  in  pairs  or  parties,  even  in  diminutive 
fleets  together,  sailing  close  enough  for  a  call. 

It  comes  to  our  notice  here  that  all  these  men  had 
been  fishing  the  entire  night  upon  the  lake,  and  had 
had  only  "fisherman's  luck."  They  were  doubtless 
in  some  measure  out  of  spirits.  With  the  utmost 
alacrity  had  Simon  welcomed  the  Master,  while  he 
made  a  pulpit  of  his  vessel.  And  with  delighted 
docility  had  he  sat  with  oar  in  hand  to  steady  it  ; 
for  he  loved  to  be  an  unhindered  listener  during  all 
the  fine  discourse  the  Great  Rabbi  had  delivered. 


134  SIMON  peter: 

But  this  may  have  struck  an  outspeaking  man  hke 
him  as  proposing  and  expecting  too  much.  When 
the  sudden  request  came,  that  he  should  start  forth 
for  a  new  venture  after  fish,  it  must  have  excited  him 
with  an  unmitigated  surprise.  Such  a  suggestion 
entered  his  own  sphere  of  acquaintance  with  things; 
it  touched  on  his  judgment,  it  challenged  the  expe- 
rience of  many  years,  and  offered  room  for  the  ex- 
pression of  an  opinion.  Indeed,  the  first  steps  of 
compliance  involved  a  great  deal  of  what  must  have 
seemed  to  Peter  to  be  profitless  labor.  His  nets  were 
strung  all  along  the  beach;  to  gather  them  in  now, 
wet  and  heavy,  and  go  out  for  another  haul,  appeared 
simply  preposterous.  So  he  made  his  reply;  and  he 
introduced  a  quiet,  but  immediate,  deprecation  of  the 
proposal  into  his  acceptance  of  it  There  can  be  no 
sort  of  doubt  that  this  man  carried  the  entire  public 
sentiment  of  the  Capernaum  by-standers  too,  a  large 
number  of  whom  were  still  within  hearing.  Simon 
answered : 

"Master,  we  have  toiled  all  the  night,  and  have 
taken  nothing:  nevertheless,  at  thy  word  I  will  let 
down  the  net." 

From  this  rejoinder,  every  one  perceives  that  our 
Lord's  suggestion  appeared  to  Simon  Peter  partly 
professional,  and  partly  unprofessional.  And  just  so 
he  constructs  his  inconsistent  reply. 

It  was  professional,  in  that  it  threw  this  man,  an 
old  hand  at  fishing,  back  on  his  peculiar  trade.  We 
feel  instinctively,  as  we  study  the  story,  that  this  was 
exactly  what  Jesus  intended.    He  wanted  all  those  men 


OBEDIENCE  AND  SUCCESS.         1 35 

to  register  the  force  of  the  difificuhies  put  in  the  path  of 
their  obedience.  Hence  it  was  perfectly  legitimate 
for  him  to  arrange  their  test  in  the  sphere  of  life 
where  it  was  a  natural  thing  for  them  to  think  and 
say,  if  they  wished  to  express  an  opinion,  that  they 
were  better  informed  than  he  was. 

But  to  be  candid  about  it  and  do  Simon  Peter  jus- 
tice in  full,  this  request  was  really  couched  in  such 
language  that  obedience  to  it  was  most  unprofessional. 
It  invited  him  to  act  against  all  his  commonplace 
experience.  Christ  did  not  seek  his  mere  counsel 
concerning  some  experimental  venture  of  his  own; 
he  seriously  proposed  that  Simon  should  do  what 
would,  in  his  honest  opinion,  make  an  undoubted 
laughing-stock  of  himself  before  his  caviling  neigh- 
bors. What  would  ** Peter's  wife's  mother"  think  of 
it,  when  she  learned  that  he  had  gone  back  on  the 
water  for  such  an  errand  as  that? 

For  there  were  three  solid  reasons  against  this 
procedure  in  the  ordinary  notions  of  the  men.  One 
was  :  it  was  past  the  time  of  day  for  fishing;  nobody 
ever  caught  anything  in  the  Sea  of  Galilee  in  the 
forenoon.  Another  Avas:  Jesus  had  said  he  must 
push  out  into  deep  water,  and  that  was  positively  no 
place  for  fishing;  fishes  seldom  ran  anywhere  but  in 
near  the  shores.  And  a  third  was:  they  themselves 
were  all  tired  out  with  vain  efforts  already,  worn 
quite  too  much  to  try  needless  hazards  with  washed 
nets.  These  experts  intimated  it  was  not  a  good, 
day  for  fishing,  anyway. 

We  may  be  certain  that  all   Peter's  partners   sym- 


I3<5  SIMON    PETER: 

pathlzed  with  him  heartily,  and  most  Hkely  remarked 
to  him  something  about  such  unprofitable  risks  under 
their  breath.       Fishermen  are  proverbially  obstinate, 
inveterate  in  prejudices,  set   dreadfully  in  their  ideas 
of  knack  in   using  tackle,  and   universally  think  they 
know   more  concerning  fishing  than  anybody  else  in 
the  world.      Hence,  with  their  ordinary  philosophy  of 
experience   to    back   these    disciples    in  a  respectful 
refusal,  it  is  very  beautiful  to  observe  how  unhesitat- 
ingly they  acquiesced.     Simon  (as  was  to  be  expected) 
makes  a  characteristic  little  apology  just  to  soothe  his 
professional  pride;    but  throws  the  responsibility  of 
probable  failure  on  Jesus  with  uncomplaining  respect, 
and  then  starts  for  the  seines  on  the  shore. 

So  we  can  picture  all  of  them,  the  moment  they 
step  out  upon  the  sands,  a  little  away  from  constraint, 
letting  out  the  pressure  of  their  incredulous  surprise 
as  they  strain  to  lift  the  damp  nets,  in  pretty  much 
the  same  line  of  speeches.  There  is  this  peculiarity 
in  most  oriental  fishermen:  they  have  a  great  habit 
of  talking  to  themselves,  rapidly  and  excitedly,  when 
they  are  engaged  in  sinewy  work.  If  they  are  doing 
nothing,  they  are  indolent,  and  often  sit  silent  and 
taciturn.  But  the  instant  one  set  of  their  muscles 
springs  into  exercise,  it  appears  as  if  all  the  rest  were 
loosened.  One  can  hear  more  Arabic  than  he  can 
remember  in  a  life-time,  in  a  single  half-hour  by  the 
side  of  the  Lake  Gennesaret,  when  the  men  are 
vociferously  about  their  business.  And  if  those 
friends  of  Jesus,  obedient  and  honest,  did  never- 
theless   give     their    feeling    utterance    under    such 


OBEDIENCE  AND  SUCCESS.         I  37 

temptation,  it  would  be  nothing  to  lay  up  against 
them. 

It  would  be  characteristic  for  Simon  Peter  to  dwell 
upon  the  difficulty  which  lay  foremost  in  his  mind; 
perhaps  he  would  say: 

''This  going  out  again  is  perfectly  useless:  nobody 
can  catch  anything  after  daybreak:  it  is  silly  to  fish 
in  the  broad  sunshine:  nevertheless,  if  the  Master 
says  so,  I  will  let  down  the  net!" 

Then  James,  a  sober  and  judicious  man  by  reputa- 
tion, would  answer  in  his  turn,  throwing  up  his  fin- 
gers to  feel  for  the  wind: 

"A  good  long  row  without  much  promise:  there 
will  be  no  possible  luck  in  deep  water  to-day :  fish  in 
this  lake  never  run  there:  nevertheless,  if  the  Master 
says  so,  I  will  let  down  the  net!" 

Even  John,  whom  everybody  knows  was  "  the 
beloved  disciple,"  as  Peter  was  the  loving  disciple, 
would  have  a  word  to  add  just  then: 

"Really  there  is  less  chance  to-day  than  ever,  for 
we  look  like  a  company  thoroughly  used  up  after 
such  a  night  as  last  night:  nevertheless,  if  the  Master 
says  so,  I  will  let  down  the  net!" 

But  Avhile  they  talk,  they  work;  and  soon  the 
tackle  has  been  all  hurried  in;  they  pile  up  everything 
in  one  great  huddle,  shove  the  boats  down  endwise, 
spring  aboard,  and  are  off  at  the  word. 

Just  here,  before  we  forget  it,  we  will  fix  our  at- 
tention on  a  fine  lesson  for  all  Christians  to  learn: 
namely,  that  discouragements  in  duty  never  bring 
any  release  from  the  performance  of  it. 


138  SIMON    PETER: 

One  may  search  all  the  inspired  biographies  in 
vain;  he  will  nowhere  find  an  instance  of  obedience 
under  unpromising  circumstances,  more  admirable 
and  exemplary  than  this  of  Simon  Peter.  Experi- 
ence in  his  case  did  not  work  hope;  all  the  hope  he 
felt  made  him  ashamed.  He  had  not  one  iota  of 
confidence  in  this  attempt  he  was  making.  Indeed, 
let  us  keep  quite  intelligent;  Simon  did  not  look 
upon  himself  as  now  going  out  a-fishing,  but  going 
out  obeying. 

To  each  of  us  often  comes  a  like  call  to  service  of 
the  same  Master.  And  the  question  for  every  Chris- 
tian, especially  for  every  young  Christian,  to  settle 
early,  and  once  for  all,  is  this:  Am  I  going  implicitly 
to  obey  my  Lord?  Do  I  pledge  myself,  no  matter 
what  stands  in  the  way,  to  press  on  in  the  line  of 
duty,  and  leave  all  doubt  and  hindrance  to  vanish,  as 
it  will,  through  the  power  I  am  promised  by  him 
who  sends  me?  It  Is  just  such  unwavering  fidelity — 
just  such  invincible  determination — just  such  illogical 
imprudence  of  daring  faith — which,  in  all  ages  since 
Simon's  day  of  obedience,  has  moved  the  world.  We 
are  never  to  choose  our  season,  or  select  our  ground; 
Ave  are  simply  to  listen  and  to  obey. 

We  go  on  with  the  story.  The  men  sailed  in 
silence  over  the  water,  waiting  for  the  gesture  of 
Jesus  to  tell  them  where  to  stop.  One  can  imagine 
that  Simon  Peter  would  look  up  now  and  then  for  an 
arrest,  as  they  happened  to  be  floating  carelessly 
across  what  his  knowledge  of  the  lake  told  him 
were  the  best  spots.     But  no  signal  dropped  from  the 


OBEDIENCE  AND  SUCCESS.         I  39 

Master's  hand.  And  before  long,  even  this  leader 
must  have  discovered  that  Jesus  had  taken  the  whole 
matter  into  intelligent  charge,  and  meant  to  cut  off 
ordinary  dependencies.  The  day  grew  hot,  and  the 
oars  hung  heavy ;  in  one  of  the  most  unsuspected 
and  unpromising  places  conceivable,  the  order  sud- 
denly came  to  their  ears  that  they  should  let  down 
their  seines.  ''And  when  they  had  this  done,  they 
enclosed  a  great  multitude  of  fishes :  and  their  net 
brake." 

That  is,  it  was  breaking — ^just  beginning  to  break. 
The  woven  meshes  were  straining  to  the  utmost. 
They  dared  not  at  once  attempt  to  pull  in  the  extraor- 
dinary haul.  They  did  as  fishers  do  in  the  same 
circumstances  there  now,  in  case  they  have  to  run 
another  seine  underneath  that  which  seems  giving 
way  with  the  weight:  "And  they  beckoned  unto 
their  partners,  which  were  in  the  other  ship,  that 
they  should  come  and  help  them.  And  they  came, 
and  filled  both  the  ships,  so  that  they  began  to 
sink." 

Literally,  they  "nodded  over"  to  them,  out  in  the 
offing  a  short  distance.  Picture  the  overwhelming 
amazement  of  these  fishermen,  as  they  saw  such  a 
miraculous  yield  come  forth  from  the  sea!  The 
vessels,  dry  and  empty  up  to  this  supreme  moment, 
now  shook  under  the  burden  of  their  tremulous  load. 
Not  a  mullet  had  been  taken  before;  not  even  a  poor 
bream  had  that  day  floundered  over  the  thwarts. 
Now,  all  as  in  an  instant,  the  waters  around  them 
seemed  quivering   and   splashing  with   the  unantici- 


I40  SIMON  peter: 

patcd  shoal;  and  in  their  boats  the  great  heaps  of 
wallowing  gifts  and  gains  from  the  seines  shone  fresh 
and  dancing  in  the  forenoon  sun.  There  was  no 
sort  of  possibility  of  blinding  their  eyes  to  the 
miracle.  They  recognized  the  divine  presence  in- 
stantly. And  with  a  great  shamefaced  admission  of 
folly  they  now  remembered  what  they  had  all  said 
together  upon  the  bank,  when  they  had  asserted  it  as 
a  positive  fact  that  not  even  Jesus  could  catch  fish  in 
Lake  Gennesaret  after  sunrise! 

^'When  Simon  Peter  saw  it,  he  fell  down  at  Jesus' 
knees,  saying,  Depart  from  me ;  for  I  am  a  sinful 
man,  O  Lord.  For  he  was  astonished,  and  all  that 
were  with  him,  at  the  draught  of  the  fishes  which 
they  had  taken;  and  so  were  also  James  and  John, 
the  sons  of  Zebedee,  which  were  partners  with 
Simon." 

How  suggestive  such  testimony  is!  Those  who 
best  understood  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ,  admired 
them  most.  We  have  here  the  opinion  of  experts; 
these  fishermen  had  spent  their  lives  on  that  sheet  of 
water.  They  knew  whether  this  haul  Avas  gained  by 
natural  means  or  by  power  of  divine  interposition. 
They  were  "astonished,"  so  Luke  says.  And  that 
word  means  wonder-stricken,  or  thunder-struck. 
Their  notions  beforehand  were  like  all  other  skeptical 
notions;  they  seemed  the  concentration  of  wisdom 
and  the  actual  embodiment  of  logic.  But  they  left 
divine  intervention  out  of  the  calculation.  Hence  the 
witness  of  those  fishermen,  after  the  event,  is  very 
valuable;   for  they  may  be  trusted  in  giving  testimony 


OBEDIENXE    AND    SUCCESS.  I4I 

to  fact,  when  the  acknowledgment  humbled  them  so 
much. 

But  now,  while  the  men  are  looking  at  the  fish,  it  is 
better  for  us  to  be  looking  after  instruction.  We  pause 
tranquilly  in  the  story,  just  where  we  are.  The  part- 
ners push  off  with  a  most  profitable  load,  and  hasten 
to  reach  the  usual  market  for  their  unusual  spoils. 
And  we  cannot  doubt  that,  among  the  fish-wives  of 
Capernaum,  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  there 
were  told  some  most  exciting  tales  of  a  marvelous 
draught  which  Simon's  boat  had  brought  in,  made 
out  in  the  deep  water,  and  some  time  in  the  forenoon. 

We  have  already  learned  that  no  discouragement 
lying  in  the  way  of  a  clear  command,  has  any  force 
whatever  to  relieve  men  from  responsibility.  We 
need  to  put  with  that  this  other  lesson,  which  is 
taught  us  here;  namely,  that  unhesitating  obedience 
is  at  once  the  condition  and  the  pledge  of  thorough 
success. 

That  is  to  say,  when  duty  meets  a  man  fairly,  he 
cannot  succeed  unless  he  implicitly  heeds  the  call. 
But  if  he  does  heed  it,  he  may  be  sure  he  will  suc- 
ceed. And  the  reason  is  found  in  one  important 
fact:  Jesus  himself  goes  in  the  boat  which  he  requests 
his  disciples  to  launch  forth  upon  the  deep.  One 
great  w^ord  rings  in  the  ears  of  the  church:  **Lo,  I 
am  with  you  always."  That  assurance  makes  every- 
thing possible  to  an  unfaltering  faith.  The  true-heart- 
ed believer  receives  Christ's  promise  with  an  exult- 
ant cry  of  confidence:  'T  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  me!  "     The  disciples  alone 


142 


SIMON    PETER 


did  not  catch  the  fish  that  day.  A  Presence  with 
them  was  what  summoned  the  shoal  and  gave  them 
their  boat-load.  One  single  principle  lies  at  the  bot- 
tom of  our  religious  life:  we  must  put  Christ  our 
Master  on  before  us,  as  the  Israelites  put  the  Ark  of 
the  Covenant  when  they  entered  the  Jordan. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"hither!  BEHIND  ME!" 

When  we  announce  as  the  theme  of  our  study,  the 
call  of  a  Galilean  fisherman  to  the  ministry  of  Jesus 
Christ,  we  expect  to  meet  almost  at  once  some  won- 
derful sight.  For  we  remember  how  constantly  a 
supernatural  endorsement  seems  to  have  been  given, 
whenever  any  servant  of  God  was  to  be  suddenly 
summoned  to  conspicuous  duty. 

Thus,  when  Moses  was  put  in  the  leadership  of  Is- 
rael, and  Aaron  was  joined  with  him  to  make  the 
speeches,  two  miracles  were  immediately  wrought  to 
confirm  the  confidence  and  impress  the  hearts  of 
these  brothers  in  their  acceptance  of  so  vast  a  charge. 
And  so,  when  Isaiah  was  called  to  be  ''the  evangelic 
prophet,"  he  was  surprised  with  a  most  marvelous 
and  magnificent  vision  of  the  Almighty  throned  in 
the  temple.  Even  Paul,  positively  sightless  for  the 
three  dark  days  in  Damascus,  was  healed  only  by  the 
providential  opening  of  his  eyes  by  Ananias  through 
miraculous  help. 

So  here  in  this  New  Testament  story,  we  find  that 
when  Simon  son  of  Jonas  was  to  be  permanently 
commissioned  to  the  apostleship,  a  great  sign  v/as 
wrought  by  the  power  of  God  to  awaken  and  im- 
press his  mind  with  the  dignity  of  such  an  office.  It 
is  the  divine  purpose  of  all  miracles  to  arrest  the  at- 
tention of  men,  and  thus  give  force  and  authority  to 
any  message  which  those  miracles  may  accompany. 


144  SIMON    PETER: 

Hence  they  ought  to  be  studied  in  direct  connection 
with  everything  which  is  stated,  before  and  after. 
John  Foster  aptly  compares  miracles  to  the  strokes 
upon  the  bell  of  the  universe,  meant  primarily  to  an- 
nounce the  momentous  sermon  which  is  to  follow. 

Here,  then,  we  must  remember  that  this  miracle 
(like  all  others  of  Christ)  is  a  parable;  for  he  is  seek- 
ing to  secure  a  figure  with  which  to  make  an  abiding 
impression  upon  the  imaginations  of  those  Capernaum 
fishermen.  And  in  order  to  do  this,  he  enters  the 
sphere  of  life  with  which  they  are  most  familiar. 
This  is  the  import  of  that  quaint  antithesis  with 
which  some  of  the  old  divines  used  to  point  their 
comments  on  this  portion  of  the  gospel  history: 
"Peter  now,  in  taking,  will  himself  get  taken!" 

When  we  left  Simon  last,  he  was  kneeling  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus  in  his  own  boat,  some  little  distance  out 
upon  Lake  Gennesaret.  He  was  frightened  and  as- 
tonished. His  boat  was  filled  with  fishes,  but  the 
frail  craft  was  beginning  to  sink;  the  prosperity  over- 
whelmed him.  Moments  of  highest  triumph  are  not 
always  moments  of  highest  safety,  nor  even  of  high- 
est satisfaction.  We  heard  this  man  repeating  words 
which  he  could  not  understand  without  spiritual  ex- 
planation: 

''Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord!" 

Most  unaccountable  prayer;  and  yet  eminently 
characteristic!  Simon  Peter  never  believed  in  half 
measures.  His  impulses  were  often  rash  and  often 
reckless;  but  they  were  always  tremendously  logical, 
according  to  the  way  in  which   he   reasoned.     They 


**  hither!  behixi)  ^^£ !  "  145 

frequently  rushed  him  on  to  the  most  alarming  con- 
clusions. This  exclamation,  so  startling  and  prepos- 
terous, had,  however,  some  good  in  it. 

For,  first  of  all,  when  Simon  saw  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ  fully  disclosed,  he  acknowledged  it 
immediately.  He  applied  to  an  undoubted  man  the 
name  of  LORD — the  one  ineffable  and  incom- 
municable Name  which  every  intelligent  Israelite 
knew  belonged  to  Jehovah  alone.  Indeed,  the  New 
Testament  translation  of  Jehovah  is  in  Greek — the 
Lord.  The  Jews  used  to  be  awfully  afraid  of  that 
name.  It  was  a  saying  of  theirs  that  if  any  man 
pronounced  it  profanely,  God  would  take  away  from 
him  his  part  in  a  future  state.  But  this  fearless  fisher- 
man— the  same  one  who  afterwards  told  Jesus,  **Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God" — was  not 
any  such  man  as  to  hold  back  from  the  pressure  of 
truth.  So  in  one  splendid  instant  of  vast  discovery, 
he  deliberately  called  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Jehovah.  It 
vv'as  the  first  of  those  grand  confessions,  which  Simon 
kept  making  all  along  the  way  as  he  lived  and 
learned. 

But  the  next  thing  in  Simon's  exclamation  to  ar- 
rest attention  is  the  astonishing  request  he  makes 
that  Jesus  should  go  away  from  him  at  once!  He 
says  "Depart  fi-om  me!"  How  could  the  Saviour 
depart  even  if  he  had  been  willing,  out  there  in  the 
middle  of  the  lake?  How  singular  was  the  argument, 
which  this  frightened  man  insisted  on  pressing!  "I 
am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord!"  If  he  had  discovered  he 
was  guilty  before   God's  law,  to  whom  else  could  he 


146  SIMON  peter: 

go  a  penitent  for  pardon?  Who  besides  Jesus  could 
help  him?  Simon  eventually  learned  all  that.  For 
in  answer  to  a  high  challenge  on  one  special  occasion: 
"Will  ye  also  go  away?"  he  rephed:  ''  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go?      Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life!" 

What  sublimity  there  is  in  this  early  confession  of 
faith  by  Peter,  and  yet  what  deprecation  and  mistake 
in  his  attitude  of  supplication!  But  we  presume  the 
process  of  his  mind  can  be  analysed. 

This  admission  of  Jesus'  Godhead  involved  un- 
utterable consequences.  He  felt  himself  vile  in  the 
presence  of  Jehovah.  And  if  vile,  he  had  no  right 
at  all  to  claim  or  to  continue  companionship.  What 
was  he,  that  he  could  bear  to  confront  infinite  purity, 
which  always  dwelt  with  infinite  power?  And  if  he 
had  no  right  to  share  this  nearness  to  God,  the  least 
he  could  do  must  be  to  relinquish  and  dismiss  it.  So 
he  said  explosively,  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sin- 
ner! Meantime,  we  see,  what  perhaps  Peter  did  not 
fully  appreciate  then,  that  all  this  experience  was  just 
that  at  which  Christ  was  aiming  in  the  miracle.  For, 
as  good  Matthew  Henry  suggests  in  commenting 
upon  this  passage,  *' Those  whom  Christ  designs  to 
admit  to  the  most  intimate  acquaintance  with  him,  he 
first  makes  sensible  that  they  deserve  to  be  at  the 
greatest  distance." 

True  conviction  of  sin  will  be  better  wrought  in 
the  experience  of  any  wrong-doer  by  an  exhibition 
of  God's  character,  God's  law,  and  God's  love,  than  by 
a  detailed  and  particular  series  of  indictments  mar- 
shaled against  him  out  of  tlie  memories  of  his  fellow- 


"hither!  behind  me!"  147 

men.  This  consideration  helps  us  to  explain  Peter's 
demeanor. 

He  seems  to  have  been  aroused,  and  at  the  same 
moment  abashed,  like  Jacob  at  Bethel,  when  he  saw 
the  vision  of  the  ladder.  Jacob  recognized  the  fact 
that  God  Almighty  was  dealing  with  him ;  so  he  felt 
crushed  by  the  contact.  Jacob's  reflection  was 
Simon's:  ** Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place;  and  I 
knew  it  not." 

We  can  imagine  that  there  came  to  Simon  Peter  a 
most  overpowering  sense  of  his  own  defiled  and  hitherto 
valueless  life ;  a  profound  experience  of  personal 
guilt  .needing  a  Saviour;  a  deep  reverence  and  awe, 
which  fairly  prostrated  him  under  the  weight  of 
mingled  grief  and  terror.  The  finite  had  for  one 
supreme  moment  been  in  the  radiance  of  the  infinite; 
it  had  touched  the  standard  of  inefTable  holiness,  and 
trembled  at  its  own  littleness  and  exposure. 

We  may  as  well  look  a  little  further  on  in  the  story, 
in  order  to  know  precisely  how  this  experience  ended. 
We  learn,  a  few  verses  after,  that  the  Saviour  replied 
in  tones  of  tenderness  and  encouragement,  **  Fear 
not."  It  is  likely  he  offered  his  hand  to  his  disciple, 
and  took  him  up  from  clinging  to  his  knees,  soothing 
his  excited  feelings  with  words  of  kind  reassurance. 
There  always  is  forgiveness  with  Jesus,  as  well  as 
reprobation  of  sin — forgiveness  that  he  may  be 
feared.  He  never  did  depart  from  any  penitent  soul 
which  said  to  him,  ''I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord!" 
Nobody  in  the  world  would  have  been  more  disap- 
pointed and  surprised  than  Peter  himself,  if  his  absurd 


1 43  SLMux  peter: 

request  had  been  precipitately  granted,  and  Jesus 
had  taken  him  at  his  word  and  left  him  in  the  boat 
alone.  We  all  make  very  foolish  and  very  ruinous 
prayers,  sometimes;  it  is  well  we  have  a  considerate 
Redeemer,  who  knows  how  to  treat  them. 

Surely,  most  of  us  now  understand  that  our  Lord 
had  been  intelligently  working  this  miracle  in  order 
to  bring  Simon  Peter  exactly  to  the  confession  he 
had  volunteered.  The  feeling  wdiich  his  action  had 
designed  to  produce  was  therefore  reached.  And  no 
one  can  think,  without  sympathy  and  profound 
interest,  of  those  solemn,  awe-struck  moments  that 
succeeded,  as  this  fisherman  took  his  wonted  place  at 
the  oars,  and  sedately  pulled  in  for  the  shore.  Simon 
could  never  thereafter  be  such  a  man  as  he  had  been 
hitherto.  For  he  had  supposed  he  knew  what  it  was 
to  enter  the  service  of  Christ.  He  now  perceived 
how  far  short  of  the  reality  he  had  reached.  One 
day's  education  in  the  school  of  miracle  had  fully 
opened  his  eyes  to  the  solemnity  of  his  work,  and 
the  reality  of  his  weakness. 

Returning  to  our  study  of  this  story,  we  find  that 
when  Jesus  had  said  "Fear  not"  to  Peter,  he  added 
also,  "Follow  me."  Singular  enough  Is  the  connec- 
tion between  such  comforts  and  counsels,  all  through 
the  New  Testament.  The  best  motto  for  an  entire 
Christian  consecration  in  life  is  just  this:  "  Fear  not, 
but  follow." 

Our  English  translation  Is  poor  and  tame,  although 
positively  accurate,  when  compared  with  the  ejacula- 
tory  vigor  of  the  expression  Christ  employed.     What 


"IIITIIER!    IJEIIIND    MK  !  "  I49 

is  rendered  in  Mark's  gospel,  '*  Come  ye  after  me," 
is  the  same  as  that  which  is  rendered  in  Matthew's 
gospel,  ''Follow  me."  But  the  original  words  are 
simply  two  particles  of  calling — as  it  were,  mere  ges- 
tures of  language — ''Hither!  Behind!"  What  our 
Lord  exclaimed  exactly  was  this:  "Here!  after  Mel" 
No  doubt  he  gesticulated  as  he  spoke.  So  the  lesson 
may  go  compactly  together  for  all  time.  Two  strokes 
of  the  hand,  a  beckon  and  a  pointing,  and  two 
words  of  the  Master — that  settles  forever  a  Christian's 
place;  that  demands  instantly  a  Christian's  acquies- 
cence; that  ensures  positively  a  Christian's  success. 
Christ  says  to  each  one  of  us:  "Come  here;  put 
yourself  behind  me!" 

It  is  evident,  when  we  put  alongside  of  Luke's  nar- 
rative the  few  details  offered  by  the  other  evangelists, 
that  our  Lord  included  in  this  call  not  only  Simon 
and  Andrew,  but  James  and  John  also,  their  neigh- 
bors in  Bethsaida,  and  their  business  partners  upon 
the  lake.  It  would  appear  as  if  the  others  of  the 
party  had  occupied  themselves  with  bringing  in  the 
mass  of  fishes  which  had  been  caught,  and  had  rowed 
ashore  with  their  load  at  once,  leaving  the  remaining 
boat  to  come  in  more  leisurely,  Simon  alone  pulling 
oars.  But  by  the  time  he  arrived,  they  had  got  out 
their  nets,  which  had  been  badly  broken,  and  were 
mending  their  strands  before  spreading  them  again 
on  the  beach  to  dry.  It  is  most  likely  that  it  was 
precisely  at  this  moment  Jesus  said  to  them  all, 
"Come  ye  after  me." 

Let  us  for  a  few  moments  carefully  contemplate  that 


I50  SIMON  peter: 

i;roup  of  men  in  their  fishing-clothes.  They  are  the 
nucleus  of  the  New  Testament  church.  They  are  the 
first  unconscious  princes  in  Christendom.  Two  les- 
sons will  come  to  our  view,  and  will  prove  thoroughly 
worth  the  notice  we  give  them;  the  peremptory  call 
to  entire  consecration,  and  the  immediate  acquies- 
cence which  it  then  met. 

We  ought  to  know  all  those  fishermen  by  this 
time.  Let  each  one  of  them  now  come  into  the  pic- 
ture; trace  out  every  line  in  the  sun-burnt  features; 
we  are  to  meet  them  often  hereafter.  Three  of  them 
Avill  enter  history  especially  this  morning.  That 
strong,  sinewy  figure,  with  gentle  face  and  calm  eye, 
his  hair  long — we  have  known  it  in  all  the  paintings, 
though  just  where  the  likeness  came  from  it  would  be 
difficult  to  tell — is  easily  seen  to  have  a  sort  of  family 
resemblance  to  the  grave,  sedate  man,  who  in  that 
loaded  vessel  just  now  pulled  the  heaviest  oar;  the 
one  with  the  tranquil  mien,  with  the  crisp  iron-gray 
beard,  slow  of  speech,  a  practical,  almost  common- 
place talker,  given  to  deeds  rather  than  feelings  or 
words,  dignified  even  at  this  excited  moment  of  in- 
tense wonderment,  as  he  looks  on  the  swirling  mass 
of  the  forenoon  spoils.  These  we  recognize  as  James 
and  John,  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee. 

Now  first  they  appear  in  the  presence  of  Jesus, 
Master  and  Redeemer  of  them  all,  as  Peter  full  of 
emotion,  every  muscle  of  his  countenance  showing 
the  solemnity  of  the  lesson  he  had  just  learned  from 
the  miracle,  pulls  his  little  boat  up  on  the  beach. 

These  three  men — when  will  they  all  be  with  Jesus 


''hither!  behind  me!"  151 

again?  A  solemn  question,  but  with  easy  answer. 
On  three  more  occasions  of  exciting  interest;  and 
then  we  may  be  sure  there  will  be  something  quite 
as  wonderful  as  anything  they  have  seen  to-day; 
when  Christ  shall  raise  the  maiden  daughter  of  Jairus 
from  the  dead;  when  the  Son  of  God  shall  be  trans- 
figured upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain  apart,  and 
appear  with  Moses  and  Elias;  when  Jesus  shall  mourn 
and  wrestle  in  agony  beneath  the  olives  of  Gethse- 
mane;  these  same  men,  chosen  three  of  chosen  twelve, 
will  be  his  sole  companions. 

Oh,  the  unseen  future  which  lies  just  before  them  all! 
Most  strangely  those  three  great  lives  have  floated  up 
on  the  sea  of  eternal  purpose,  close  to  a  Life  which  is 
greater  still!  They  will  never  be  entirely  swept 
away  from  their  Lord  or  each  other  again.  For 
weal  or  woe,  for  silence  or  speech,  for  joy  or  sorrow, 
for  earnest  work  or  quiet  resting,  these  four — Jesus, 
who  is  the  Christ,  Cephas,  and  the  two  Boanerges — 
are  one.  Jesus  and  Simon  Peter  in  the  end  will  be 
crucified;  James  will  be  beheaded;  John  will  still 
live  on  long  enough  to  see  all  the  rest  die  before  him, 
and  will  await  his  summons  in  dreary  exile  upon  a 
rock  island  of  the  sea. 

Not  all  of  them  surmise  this  now.  The  water 
shines  luminously  while  the  day  advances;  the  sun- 
light falls  over  the  white  buildings  on  the  shore,  and 
traces  short  shadows  on  the  sand;  the  hills  of  Gadara 
across  are  brown  and  hazy;  villagers  are  coming 
down  for  the  wonderful  news ;  there  stands  Imman- 
ucl  with  the  chosen  three. 
/ 


152  SIMON  peter: 

We  must  move  on  with  the  story.  Jesus  said, 
"  Come  ye  after  me."  They  knew  what  that  call 
meant,  but  they  met  it  without  hesitation:  **And 
when  they  had  brought  their  ships  to  land,  they  for- 
sook all  and  followed  him."  To  these  words,  which 
Luke  gives  us,  Matthew  and  Mark  add  one  other, 
"straightway,"  most  significant  as  showing  the  im- 
mediateness  of  their  response  to  the  peremptory 
summons:   ''they  forsook  all." 

So  we  find  there  was  immense  reach  in  that  single 
word  which  the  two  evangelists  use — "straightway." 
Without  so  much  as  appearing  to  look  at  each  other 
for  united  consent,  they  broke  their  partnership,  took 
up  instant  duty,  and  followed  Christ  as  he  said:  "For 
ye  see  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not  many 
wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,  are  called."  These  were  only  four  in- 
conspicuous fishermen  of  Galilee.  But  what  could 
they  have  done  more,  If  they  had  been  three  Magi 
from  Persia  with  their  minds  crowded  with  knowledge 
of  the  stars?  All  that  is  heroic  in  humanity  was 
stirred  in  their  breasts.  Yet  not  one  sign  of  foolish 
bravado  did  they  display.  They  made  no  ostenta- 
tious expressions  of  scorn  of  the  world  or  its  comforts. 
They  were  not  an  uneasy  band  of  adventurers  seek- 
ing a  new  excitement.  Calmly  these  disciples  gave 
all  they  had  to  hard  work  and  sober  duty. 

Such  people  move  the  race.  They  arouse  the  age 
in  which  they  live.  These  fishermen  did  it.  A  lit- 
tle further  on  In  the  history,  we  read  that  the  chief 
accusation  leveled  against  such   preachers  among  the 


"hither!  behind  me!"  153 

heathen,  was  that  they  turned  the  world  upside  down! 
**Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples,  if  any  man 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me.  For  whosoever  will  save  his 
life,  shall  lose  it:  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for 
my  sake  shall  find  it." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FISHERS  OF   MEN. 

"  Now  as  he  walked  by  the  sea  of  Gahlec,  he  saw 
Simon  and  Andrew  his  brother,  casting  a  net  into  the 
sea:  for  they  were  fishers.  And  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Come  ye  after  me,  and  I  will  make  you  become 
fishers  of  men." 

In  this  story,  now  becoming  so  familiar  to  us  all, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  offers  a  most  beautiful  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  he  is  attempting  to  teach.  He 
is  fishing  for  men  at  the  very  moment  he  tells  those 
fishermen  he  Is  going  to  make  them  fishers  of  men. 

Simon  Peter  is  about  to  enter  a  new  profession 
now,  which  after  all  will  prove  to  be  the  old  one  with 
a  changed  purpose.  This  is  announced  to  him  by 
Jesus  in  the  use  of  a  figure  of  speech,  the  most  signif- 
icant that  could  be  employed.  If  we  spend  a  few 
sentences  in  explaining  the  reason  for  such  language, 
we  shall  be  in  better  position  for  tracing  out  the 
strong  analogies  suggested  by  the  art  of  fishing,  when 
it  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  Christian  endeavor. 

We  have  made  a  careful  distinction  between  Simon 
Peter's  conversion  and  his  commission  to  the  public 
work  of  the  ministry;  for  these  two  things  were  not 
the  same  to  any  of  the  disciples,  nor  to  any  of  us 
are  they  the  same.  A  great  many  people  in  the 
world  are  called  to  become  Christians,  who  are  not 
expected  to  become  preachers.  It  is  significant  that 
our  Lord  retains  here,  as  well  as  during   nearly  all 


FISHERS    OF    MEN.  I  55 

his  association  with  Simon  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament,  his  old  name,  although  he  promised  him 
the  new  one  of  Peter.  He  still  looked  upon  him  as 
the  son  of  Jonas,  and  suffered  no  glamour  of  mystery 
to  be  flung  around  him.  An  official  ordination  to 
the  apostolate  as  such  is  to  be  dated  a  while  later, 
most  likely,  if  we  wish  to  be  strictly  accurate.  But 
these  fishermen  withdrew  from  their  occupations,  and 
commenced  service  that  very  hour. 

If  it  ever  be  one's  honest  wish  to  do  good  to  any 
man,  to  impart  to  him  profitable  instruction,  he  must 
persistently  strive  to  fasten  that  which  the  man  does 
not  know  upon  something  which  he  is  sure  he  does 
know.  Ready  access  requires,  and  ready  tact  will 
discover,  an  ally  within  the  soul  of  each  listener. 
Nothing  alarms  a  rude  or  ignorant  person  so  much 
as  an  abrupt  reminder  of  his  ignorance.  Nothing 
propitiates  a  pupil  or  a  hearer  so  surely  as  the  rec- 
ognition of  even  some  slight  information  he  may  be 
presumed  to  be  possessed  of  concerning  the  matter 
in  hand.  There  is  wisdom  in  an  old  distich  of  poetry, 
which  modern  philosophers  quote  so  often: 

**  Men  must  be  taught  as  though  you  taught  them  not, 
And  thhigs  unknown  proposed  as  things  forgot." 

Thus,  through  all  the  Bible  history  we  shall  find 
an  adroit  ingenuity  in  use  to  bring  men  to  duty,  to 
show  them  their  sin,  and  to  make  permanent  impres- 
sion of  God's  commands  upon  their  consciences  and 
hearts.  Figures  are  drawn  from  previous  experi- 
ences. 


156  SIMON  peter: 

The  eastern  Magi  were  astronomers;  so  they  were 
guided  to  Jesus  by  a  star.  The  Samaritan  woman 
sat  by  the  well  whence  she  was  accustomed  to  fetch 
water  every  day;  and  we  remember  that  our  Lord 
talked  to  her  about  the  water  of  life.  The  greedy 
multitudes  were  thronging  him  for  mere  food,  after 
the  miracle  of  feeding  the  five  thousand;  and  we  have 
all  read  that  fine  discourse  he  preached  subsequently 
to  them  concerning  the  bread  that  comes  down  from 
heaven.  Even  in  the  Old  Testament,  one  of  the 
psalms  shows  the  analogy  between  king  David's  early 
occupation  as  a  shepherd's  lad  in  Bethlehem,  and  his 
later  history  when  he  pastured  Israel  like  a  flock: 

''He  chose  David  also  his  servant,  and  took  him 
from  the  sheepfolds:  he  brought  him  to  feed  Jacob 
his  people,  and  Israel  his  inheritance.  So  he  fed 
them  according  to  the  integrity  of  his  heart;  and 
guided  them  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  hands." 

In  like  manner  here:  we,  who  have  already  traced 
out  the  details  of  the  narrative,  can  plainly  discern 
that  Jesus  was  capturing  Peter  and  Andrew,  John 
and  James,  with  a  bright  figure  derived  from  their 
daily  work.  Some  will  like  the  words  as  they  have 
been  recorded  by  Luke  better  than  those  given  us  by 
Matthew  or  Mark  in  the  same  connection,  though 
they  signify  very  much  the  same  thing:  **  And  Jesus 
said  unto  Simon,  Fear  not:  from  henceforth  thou  shalt 
catch  men."  For  in  these  there  is  a  promise,  as  in 
all  of  them  there  is  a  commission.  A  man  may  be 
an  angler  by  profession,  and  still  find  himself  at  times 
unsuccessful.     Jesus  here  says  emphatically  to  every 


FISHERS    OF    MEX.  1 57 

one  of  those  disciples,  as  to  Peter,  **Thou  shalt  catch 
men." 

The  ancient  heretic,  JuHan,  caviled  at  this  simile, 
and  often  tried  to  be  quite  witty  and  sarcastic  over  it. 
He  used  to  say: 

*'0h,  yes:  the  clergy  are  all  like  enough  to  Peter 
in  his  business,  if  that  is  what  apostolical  succession 
consists  in!  Every  one  goes  fishing  for  men;  for 
they  live  on  the  men  they  catch  just  as  he  did  on  the 
fishes.  They  take  silly  creatures,  and  then  they  pre- 
tend they  hear  a  voice,  saying,  'Arise,  Peter,  kill 
and  eat!'" 

Pretty  sharp  cavil  that!  Only  it  happens  that  the 
sneer  finds  a  singular  rebuttal  and  rebuke  in  the  spe- 
cific term  employed  here  by  our  Lord.  This  Greek 
word  rendered  *'catch"  occurs  only  twice  in  the  New 
Testament — here,  and  in  the  epistle  to  Timothy.  And 
a  curious  grouping  of  etymological  forces  in  little 
particles  gives  to  it  an  exact  meaning  which  reverses 
the  cavil;  it  signifies — to  take  in  order  to  keep  alive. 
In  the  other  passage  we  recognize  an  acceptance  of 
the  position  precisely;  for  it  is  translated  thereto  re- 
cover one's  self  out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil.  So  this 
indecent  fling  of  a  ribald  tongue  falls  harmlessly  to 
the  ground:  like  some  mean  bird,  that  dashed  against 
the  Avindow  of  a  light-house  and  dropped  down 
among  the  stones  with  its  wing  broken. 

It  was  in  this  redemptive  sense  that  primitive  Chris- 
tians accepted  the  figure.  They  actually  called  them- 
selves ''fishes,"  to  show  they  had  been  "taken"  and 
saved.     Perhaps  there  is  no  one  among  the  modern 


158  SIMON    PETER  : 

discoveries,  which  antiquarian  research  has  offered  in 
our  times,  as  having  been  found  in  the  remains  of 
those  apostohc  ages,  more  interesting  than  the  epi- 
taphs etched  on  the  stone  slabs  and  tombs  in  the 
Catpicombs  beneath  the  city  of  Rome.  Christians 
and  heathen  were  buried  there  in  promiscuous  asso- 
ciation. Under  those  violent  persecutions,  w^hich 
raged  more  than  once,  it  was  not  considered  safe  to 
mark  the  graves  of  believers  so  as  that  the  barbarians 
would  know  them.  And  yet  such  simple-hearted 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  wanted  to  recognize  the 
faith  in  which  their  beloved  friends  died;  so  they 
drew  the  figure  of  a  fish  on  the  stone. 

Hence  to  them  this  had  a  double  meaning.  For 
the  Greek  name  for  fish  is  *'Ichthus;"  and  these  five 
letters  (cJi  and  th  are  one  letter  each  in  that  alphabet) 
are  the  initials  of  five  words,  and  they  mean,  **Jesus 
Christ,  God's  Son,  Saviour."  So  this  was  one  way 
in  which,  in  such  hard  days,  men  loved  to  profess 
their  belief,  and  even  after  the  struggle  of  death  rec- 
ord it  cut  deeply  into  the  overhanging  rocks  under- 
ground; they  were  fishes  caught  and  saved. 

Now  when  our  Lord  apphed  this  name  of  ''fishers 
of  men"  to  workers  like  these  before  him,  he  put 
within  the  reach  of  their  understanding — and  within 
the  reach  of  ours — all  the  aims  and  all  the  ingenuities 
of  their  handicraft,  for  the  sake  of  awaking  their  im- 
aginations. Hence,  we  have  the  right  to  search  after 
his  entire  instruction  by  an  analysis.  What  is  it  to 
"catch  men?" 

It  would  be  interesting,  perhaps,  as  a  mere  gratifi- 


FISHERS    OP^   MEN.  I  59 

cation  of  curiosity,  to  study  how  the  mystic  and 
spIrituaHzIng  commentators  of  all  ages  have  fairly 
reveled  in  the  luxurious  wealth  of  real  or  fancied 
particulars,  upon  which  they  conceive  this  most  sim- 
ple figure  to  turn.  They  sagely  inquire  about  the 
forms  of  the  nets,  and  the  shapes  of  the  meshes — the 
multitudinous  kinds  of  hooks,  lines,  and  baits — until 
one  is  wearied  by  the  array  of  professional  technics. 
It  will  not  be  to  any  advantage  for  us  now  to  go  fur- 
ther in  the  investigation  of  analogies  than  just  to  men- 
tion these  two:  the  purpose  that  all  true  fishers 
cherish,  and  the  temper  they  keep. 

What  do  people  go  a-fishing  for  ?  As  to  purpose, 
there  needs  one  statement  alone  to  make  it  clear. 
Fishermen  aim  and  expect  to  catch  fish.  Hardly  any 
calling  in  the  world  allows  of  so  slight  a  margin. 
There  seems  to  be  only  one  thing  in  it :  men  fish  for 
fish. 

The  experts,  who  are  best  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  angling,  as  applied  to  the  serious  work  of  bread- 
winning  for  a  family,  have  a  perfect  contempt  for  all 
new-fangled  notions,  and  all  fastidious  theories  of  too 
much  civilization.  They  insist  that  modern  fishes 
are  precisely  the  same  creatures  that  primitive  fishes 
were  in  the  next  year  after  the  flood.  So  the  day  of 
experiment  has  passed  already,  and  the  matter  has 
been  reduced  to  a  science.  Patent  flies  and  ingenious 
spoons  receive  no  sort  of  welcome  from  those 
v/eather-beaten  men  who  get  a  living  off  the  water. 
They  labor,  too  much  in  dead  earnest  to  trifle  with 
feathers  or  toy  with  a  piece  of  silver. 


i6o  SIM  ox  peter: 

Nor  are  even  the  inexperienced  willing  to  admit  any 
other  estimate.  Our  summer  amusements  demand  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  necessity.  One  may  drive  up 
to  the  verandah  after  his  day's  adventure,  and  all 
his  wise  boasting  about  beautiful  sunshine,  excellent 
exercise,  pleasant  company,  crystal  atmosphere,  de- 
lightful rowing,  goes  for  naught.  The  moment  his 
enthusiasm  lapses  into  silence  even  for  a  breath,  some 
quiet  questioner  will  be  sure  to  come  up  and  touch 
his  basket  with  those  embarrassing  words,  "What  did 
you  get  ?"  And  if  the  pouch  is  empty,  then  the  day 
is  irretrievably  lost,  the  taunt  is  against  him,  and  the 
reproach  is  acknowledged  just. 

This  point,  prosaic  and  ordinary  as  it  seems  to  be, 
is  pivotal  to  the  figure  of  our  Lord.  These  men  were 
surrendering  forever  a  definite  calling,  the  rules  of 
which  they  knew.  Putting  the  new  of^ce  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  sinners  under  the  guise  of  their  old 
occupation  reduced  it  to  their  plain  understanding. 
They  must  have  comprehended  absolutely  from  this 
moment  that  they  were  going  out  fishing  in  the  tur- 
bulent waters  of  this  world  for  souls. 

The  gospel  has  no  end  or  aim,  that  can  be  possi- 
ble to  it,  besides  this  of  the  salvation  of  men.  All 
Christian  efifort  looks  to  that  and  nothing  else. 
Hence  each  worker  of  intelligence  ought  to  be  on  the 
alert  to  go  where  fishes  are,  if  he  fishes  for  men. 
For  he  has  not  been  sent  out  merely  to  flirt  the  hne, 
or  lay  the  pretty  decoy,  or  plant  the  net ;  he  has 
been  sent  for  souls  ;  the  day  is  lost,  if  he  does  not 
bring  in  souls  of  men.      All  toying,  all  pleasure-seek- 


FISHERS    OF    MEN.  l6l 

ing,  13  wide  of  this  errand.  No  angler  ever  sat  under 
the  flicker  of  the  torch,  or  rowed  beneath  the  gloom 
of  the  midnight,  no  man  ever  floated  over  unpromis- 
ing waters,  with  a  serener  faith,  or  with  a  more 
earnest,  more  downright,  sense  of  business  in  his 
mind,  than  these  true  laborers  in  gospel  work.  If 
they  do  not  see  souls  coming  within  their  reach,  if 
they  do  not  take  souls,  time  is  lost,  skill  is  lost,  souls 
are  lost,  and  they  are  lost. 

Said  Matthew  Henry :  '*!  would  think  it  greater 
happiness  for  myself  to  gain  even  one  soul  to  Christ, 
than  mountains  of  gold  and  silver ;  if  I  do  not  gain 
souls,  I  shall  enjoy  all  other  gains  with  very  little  sat- 
isfaction." So  likewise  said  John  Bunyan :  *' In  my 
preaching,  I  could  not  be  satisfied,  unless  some  fruits 
did  appear  in  my  work."  Said  Doddridge,  also  :  *' I 
long  for  the  conversion  of  souls  more  sensibly  than 
for  anything  besides ;  methinks  I  could  labor  for  it 
not  only,  but  die  for  it  with  pleasure."  This  is  v/hat 
all  fishers  of  men  agree  in  assertincr.  And  it  ouf^-ht 
to  be  true  of  each  one  of  them  as  it  was  of  AUeine, 
concerning  whom  his  biographer  remarks,  with 
pardonable  enthusiasm  in  speech,  *'  He  was  infi- 
nitely and  insatiably  greedy  of  the  conversion  of  souls." 

Add  to  this,  now,  some  few  illustrations  as  to  the 
temper  in  which  this  great  Vv^ork  should  be  carried  on, 
and  our  conceptions  of  Christ's  figure  are  complete. 
It  includes  patience,  alertness,  and  tact. 

Patience  comes  first.  Enthusiasts  with  the  hook 
and  line  assure  us  that  nothing  is  more  trying  to  one's 
temper  than  to  lose  a  fish,  after  having  waited  for  an 


1 62  SIMON  peter: 

hour  to  get  it  fairly  hold  of  the  bait ;  and  yet,  no- 
thing is  more  fatal  to  success  than  losing  temper 
under  the  failure.  This  much  every  preacher  in  a 
pulpit,  and  every  Christian  worker  in  a  community, 
knows  for  himself:  when  a  long  struggle  of  faith 
and  prayer  has  at  last  seemed  to  give  promise  of  a 
soul,  there  is  no  more  discouraging  experience  than 
just  that  of  the  disappointment  under  some  freak  of 
human  perversity,  or  some  evil  and  deadly  wile  of 
the  adversary,  that  effects  a  sudden  release. 

But  it  does  no  good  to  be  provoked.  Reproaches 
would  avail  no  more  in  restoring  the  grand  result 
than  a  spiteful  flinging  of  stones  into  the  Avater  would 
help  in  rebooking  a  lost  fish. 

We  have  learned  that  the  word  *'  catch  "  in  this 
narrative  is  found  in  one  other  place.  In  that  pas- 
sage, which  had  better  be  adduced  now  in  detail,  and 
in  its  connection,  the  apostle  gives  this  pertinent 
counsel,  covering  the  Avhole  process  of  dealing  with 
men  : 

''  And  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive;  but 
be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to  teach,  patient :  in 
meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose  themselves; 
if  God  peradventure  will  give  them  repentance  to  the 
acknowledging  of  the  truth,  and  that  they  may  re- 
cover themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil,  who 
are  taken  captive  by  him  at  his  will." 

Old  Doctor  Miller  used  to  tell  his  students  this  : 
"  Young  men,  the  very  earliest  condition  of  success 
in  the  pulpit  is  civility."  We  cannot  force  people  to 
act  even  in  their  own  interest ;  tranquil  forbearance 


FISHERS    OF  AIEX.  1 63 

and  persistency  will  sometimes  retrieve  a  failure  that 
violence  and  denunciation  would  only  fasten  for  the 
future. 

Then  comes  alertness :  *'  They  watch  for  your 
souls."  In  the  story  now  under  our  eye,  Simon 
Peter  intimated  that  it  would  do  no  good  to  go  out 
on  Lake  Gennesaret  in  the  forenoon,  nor  to  cast  a 
net  in  deep  water ;  fish  did  not  run  at  such  times  nor 
in  such  places.  He  was  right ;  and  that  was  what 
proved  the  working  of  the  miracle.  He  had  been  a 
diligent  observer,  and  so  showed  he  knew  that  busi- 
ness. Circumstances  have  much  to  do  with  promise 
of  success. 

That  principle  would  hold  absolutely,  if  any  one 
was  exhaustively  acquainted  with  this  other  business 
of  saving  souls.  In  the  world  of  mind,  however,  the 
moods  of  men  are  as  various  as  the  men  themselves. 
And  it  is  not  everybody  that  knows  everything. 
Providence  may  be  relied  upon  to  give  us  a  chance, 
if  only  we  keep  looking  for  it  and  waiting  for  it. 
Crossing  London  Bridge,  possibly  a  few  of  us  have 
particularly  noticed  now  and  then  an  old  man,  seat- 
ed quietly  upon  one  of  the  piers,  rod  in  hand,  and 
beside  him  miscellanies  of  living  bait  and  curious  flies 
of  feather.  When  we  returned  at  nightfall,  there  he 
was  still,  undisturbed  by  the  tumult  and  roar  of  the 
thousands  of  carriages  and  hacks.  Perhaps  he  made 
no  show  in  his  basket;  perhaps,  when  we  questioned 
him,  he  confessed  he  had  caught  no  spoils  as  yet,  he 
denied  any  charge  of  personal  unskilfulness,  he  told 
us  how  he  had  been   trying  a  score  of  ingenious  de- 


1 64  SIMON  peter: 

coys,  he  forced  us  to  admire  his  assiduity;  but, 
above  everything  else,  he  sent  us  away  from  his  side 
pondering  his  cheerful  words,  as  we  parted  :  ''Well, 
if  I  keep  it  up,  I  always  catch  a  fish  of  one  sort  if  I 
do  not  of  another,  before  I  start  for  home." 

Such  a  spirit  as  that  will  in  the  end  bring  in  fruits 
of  success.  Try  one  thing,  and  then  try  another  ; 
then  expect  one  person  will  be  brought  in,  or  an- 
other ;  for  that  is  the  apostolic  example  : 

'*  For  though  I  be  free  from  all  men,  yet  have  I 
made  myself  servant  unto  all,  that  I  might  gain  the 
more.  And  unto  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that 
I  might  gain  the  Jews ;  to  them  that  are  under 
the  law,  as  under  the  law,  that  I  might  gain  them 
that  are  under  the  law  ;  to  them  that  are  without 
law,  as  without  law  (being  not  without  law  to  God, 
but  under  the  law  to  Christ),  that  I  might  gain  them 
that  are  without  law.  To  the  weak  became  I  as 
Aveak,  that  I  might  gain  the  weak :  I  am  made  all 
things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save 
some." 

Next  comes  tact.  In  this  tumultuous  life  of  ours, 
it  is  the  part  of  a  wise  man  to  keep  himself  informed 
as  to  opportunities  of  usefulness.  There  are  fehcities 
of  time —  place —  words —  occasion —  every  one  of 
which  is  worth  a  day's  work  to  learn.  All  waters 
are  not  alike.  All  fishes  are  not  the  same.  Some 
seasons  are  better  than  others.  And,  wdien  boister- 
ous talkers  are  around,  less  fuss  and  more  fishing  will 
better  fill  the  basket. 

To  know  how  to  do  a  thing  is  one  prodigious  step 


FISHERS    OF    MEX.  1 65 

towards  the  doing  of  it.  Oh,  if  we  could  force  our- 
selves to  gain  a  fitting  conception  of  what  it  is  to  save 
a  soul — how  difficult  and  delicate — just  to  save  one 
soul,  we  should  be  content  to  skill  ourselves  passion- 
ately and  alertly  for  years,  if  need  be,  in  anghngfor  it ! 
We  must  learn  human  nature — other  people's  and 
our  own.  We  must  grow  apt  to  note  the  signs  of 
spiritual  weather.  We  must  become  discerning  and 
quick  and  enthusiastic.  For  again  let  it  be  said — 
and  again — that  all  is  lost,  unless  in  the  end  we  save 
men.  It  matters  nothing  at  all  what  fails  one  mo- 
ment, if  something  else  succeeds  the  next.  Only 
we  are  to  persist  in  trying  expedients  of  every  sort. 
Said  the  sainted  Brainerd,  making  a  review  of  his 
busy  years :  "  I  cared  not  where  or  how  I  lived,  or 
what  hardships  I  passed  through,  so  that  I  could  but 
gain  souls  to  Christ.  While  I  was  asleep  I  dreamed 
of  such  things,  and  when  I  waked  the  first  thing  I 
thought  of  was  this,  of  winning  souls  for  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SIMON'S    wife's     mother. 

After  his  marriage,  Simon  Peter  made  his  home  in 
Capernaum.  One  day  there  was  in  this  disciple's 
history  in  which  events  of  the  greatest  magnitude 
thickened  around  him.  Never  had  he  a  Sabbath 
more  crowded  with  instruction,  or  more  plainly  de- 
signed to  wield  an  important  influence  over  his  whole 
life.  For,  after  the  miracle  in  his  boat,  he  was 
granted  the  unusual  distinction  of  another  miracle  in 
his  house  on  one  of  his  family. 

The  mother  of  his  wife  was  exceedingly  ill ;  Jesus 
rebuked  the  fever ;  she  was  cured  instantly,  and  took 
up  her  duties  in  the  household  at  once. 

"  And  he  arose  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  entered 
into  Simon's  house.  And  Simon's  wife's  mother  was 
taken  with  a  great  fever ;  and  they  besought  him  for 
her.  And  he  stood  over  her,  and  rebuked  the  fever ; 
and  it  left  her.  And  immediately  she  arose  and  min- 
istered unto  them." 

It  will  strike  everyone's  mind  that  this  record  is 
surprisingly  brief  for  an  incident  so  august.  The  in- 
struction of  it,  however,  is  unusually  extensive  upon 
some  unexpected  points  where  we  need  help. 

Let  us  ascertain  what  it  teaches  concerning  this 
noted  apostle,  Simon  Peter.  Here  comes  out  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  married  man,  and  his  mother-in-lav/ 
lived  with  him  in    the    same   dwelling.       We   might 


SIMON'S  wife's  mother.  167 

touch  such  an  incident  in  the  biography  of  any  other 
individual  with  the  mere  comment  of  approval, 
"Marriage  is  honorable  in  all,"  and  then  pass  on  to 
matters  of  greater  spiritual  interest.  In  relation  to 
any  one  else  it  would  be  necessary  to  do  nothing  ex- 
cept quote  the  command  :  **  Let  every  man  have  his 
own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her  own 
husband." 

And  then  we  might  find  it  to  edification  to  draw  the 
picture  of  the  honest  fisherman's  home,  and  show 
how  well  the  son  of  Jonas  was  fitted  to  his  new  lot 
as  soon  as  he  was  called  to  be  a  preacher  and  officer 
in  the  church  of  Christ.     Everyone  knows  the  text: 

"This  is  a  true  saying,  If  a  man  desire  the  office 
of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work.  A  bishop  then 
must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant, 
sober,  of  good  behavior,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to 
teach;  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having  his 
children  in  subjection  with  all  gravity;  for  if  a  man 
know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he 
take  care  of  the  church  of  God  ?" 

But  just  here  we  are  met  with  the  astonishing  state- 
ment by  some  that  celibacy  is  the  true  saintly  con- 
dition for  all  ministers  in  the  New  Testament  church. 
And  this  is  enforced  by  a  great  hierarchy  which  open- 
ly pronounces  such  as  do  not  adhere  to  it  "heretics," 
at  the  same  moment  when  it  proclaims  this  familiar 
fisherman  to  have  been  the  first  pope!  Furthermore, 
it  was  deliberately  put  on  record  some  six  hundred 
years  after  Peter  was  dead  and  buried,  that  he  di- 
vorced his  wife  on  his  entering  the  priesthood.     As 


i68  SIMON  peter: 

a  proof  of  this,  it  is  urged  now  from  this  very  story 
that  his  mother-in-law,  and  not  his  wife,  arose  and 
did  the  ministering  to  the  men.  Such  people  would 
have  us  believe  that  Simon  had  put  her  away  during 
those  two  or  three  days  that  had  elapsed  since  the 
miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  and  that  this  was  his 
first  Sabbath  alone!  Perhaps  it  is  just  as  well  to 
leave  this  absurd  inconsistency  to  be  explained  by 
those  ecclesiastics  who  hold  marriage  to  be  one  of 
the  sacraments. 

Then,  after  about  the  same  lapse  of  time,  it  was  en- 
joined upon  all  ecclesiastics  in  the  papal  communion 
that  they  should  live  lives  of  perpetual  seclusion  from 
domestic  ties,  and  reject  marriage  as  a  snare.  These 
enactments  were  put  in  force  in  the  eleventh  century, 
since  which  date  all  priests  of  every  order,  so  it  is  said, 
have  been  forbidden  to  marry.  It  was  what  Paul 
the  apostle  predicted,  to  be  sure:  but  he  enumerated 
the  prohibition  of  marriage  as  among  the  character- 
istics of  an  apostate  church,  which  denied  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints: 

*'Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the 
latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils; 
speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,  having  their  conscience 
seared  with  an  hot  iron;  forbidding  to  marry,  and 
commanding  to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God  hath 
created  to  be  received  Avith  thanksgiving  of  them 
which  believe  and  know  the  truth." 

That  celibacy  is  indeed  a  ''doctrine  of  devils"  no 
one   can  deny  who  has  read  the  testimony  of  such 


siMox's  wife's  mother.  169 

as  have  known  the  private  annals  of  nunneries  and 
monastic  institutions  the  world  over  for  near  a  thou- 
sand years.  The  results  of  such  unscriptural  teach- 
ing have  been  simply  appalling.  Sensuality  and 
lust,  vice  and  villany  of  every  sort,  have  come 
invariably  in  its  train  to  show  its  falseness. 

But  leaving  the  perversion,  and  returning  to  the  fact, 
it  is  offered  at  once  as  a  most  interesting  question: 
What  do  we  know  of  this  woman  who  was  cured? 
And  we  are  constrained  to  reply,  that  no  record  of 
her  history  appears  anywhere  in  the  Scriptures  be- 
fore or  after  this  brief  paragraph.  Indeed,  her 
whole  importance  historically  is  owing  to  her  rela- 
tionship to  this  famous  apostle.  It  rarely  happens 
that  a  great  man's  name  strikes  back  through  two 
generations;  but  it  is  a  palpable  fact  here,  that  all 
the  reputation  given  to  this  w^oman  over  the  others 
healed  by  miracle  in  Capernaum  rises  from  the  inci- 
dent of  her  having  been  the  mother  of  Simon  Peter's 
wife,  and  living  with  him. 

But  there  is  something  to  be  said  concerning  the 
wife  herself,  and  this  is  of  special  importance.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  she  remained  a  most  faith- 
ful companion  and  fellow-worker  with  Peter,  whom 
Paul  always  calls  "Cephas,"  down  to  the  end  of  her 
hfe.  For  in  one  of  Paul's  epistles  an  allusion  is 
made  to  her;  he  says,  **  Have  we  not  power  to  lead 
about  a  sister,  a  wife,  as  well  as  other  apostles,  and 
as  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  and  Cephas?"  This 
was  written  more  than  twenty  years  after  Christ's 
resurrection,  when   Peter   was    an   old   man.     As  a 


i;o  SIMON  peter: 

comment  upon  the  verse,  Clement  of  Alexandria 
adds:  ''Peter  and  Philip  had  children,  and  both  took 
about  their  wives  in  order  that  they  might  act  as 
their  assistants  in  ministering  to  women  at  their  own 
homes ;  by  their  means  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord 
penetrated  without  scandal  into  the  privacy  of  the 
women's  apartments." 

Among  all  the  legends  of  the  Apostle  Peter  there 
is  found,  now  and  then,  one  which  makes  for  truth, 
and  confirms  the  Scripture  narratives.  And  while 
we  may  refuse  to  accept  these  as  records  of  actual 
fact,  we  are  at  liberty  to  quote  them  as  interesting 
incidents,  which  in  some  particulars  are  likely  to  be 
true.  It  is  stated  that  this  devout  and  excellent 
woman  closed  her  eventful  life  by  martyrdom  in  the 
city  of  Rome;  that  she  was  well  known  in  the  primi- 
tive Church;  that  she  had  a  daughter,  called  Petron- 
illa;  and  that  her  own  name  was  Concordia,  or,  as 
some  say,  Perpetua.  Even  the  circumstances  of  her 
death  are  detailed.  And  it  is  related,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  marriage  of  that  blessed  pair,  and  the 
perfect  agreement  between  them  in  those  things 
which  were  dearest  to  both,  that  at  the  last  solemn 
moment,  when  Peter  beheld  his  wife  led  out  to  her 
suffering,  he  "rejoiced  at  her  calling  of  the  Lord, 
and  her  conveyance  to  her  heavenly  home;  so  that 
he  cried  out  to  her  encouragingly  and  comfortingly, 
addressing  her  by  name,  *0h,  remember  thou  the 
Lord ! '  Thus  she  was  supported  in  constancy  to  the 
end." 

Now  comes  another  question:   Did  this  Christian 


SIMON'S    wife's    mother.  I/I 

woman  herself  have  any  children?  It  is  best  to  leave 
the  discussion  as  to  the  relationship  of  Mark  for  an- 
other occasion,  which  will  be  presented  at  the  time 
of  our  study  of  the  gospel  which  bears  his  name. 
But  the  final  salutation  of  Peter's  epistle  contains 
these  familiar  words :  **The  church  that  is  at  Baby- 
lon, elected  together  with  you,  saluteth  you;  and  so 
doth  Marcus,  my  son."  This  passage  has  always 
been  admitted  to  be  obscure.  Many  of  the  soundest 
scholars  believe  the  introduction  of  the  words  in 
Italics,  as  they  appear  in  our  version,  to  be  unauthor- 
ized; they  say  there  is  no  reference  to  a  church,  but 
that  the  term  rendered  ''elected  together"  refers  to 
a  woman,  who  sends  salutation.  Of  course  the  like- 
lihood is  that  this  was  Simon's  wife,  who,  being  with 
him,  and  being  a  Christian  also,  naturally  added  her 
greeting  to  his.  And,  furthermore,  they  urge  that 
the  expression  in  the  same  connection,  "Marcus  my 
son,"  is  literal,  and  means  "my  son  Mark."  That  is 
to  say,  many  persons  think  that  the  evangelist  Mark 
was  the  actual  son  of  the  Apostle  Peter.  The  New 
Revision  renders  the  whole  verse  thus:  "She  that  is 
in  Babylon,  elect  together  with  you,  saluteth  you; 
and  so  doth  Mark  my  son." 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  legend  of  "Petron- 
illa;"  and  most  readers  of  the  "History  of  Sacred 
and  Legendary  Art "  will  recall  the  account  as  it 
there  appears  in  the  translation  from  the  Latin. 

Thus  the  story  runs  :  The  Apostle  Peter  had  a 
daughter  born  in  lawful  wedlock,  who  accompanied 
him  in  his  journey  from  the  East.     Being  at  Rome 


172  SIMON    PETER: 

with  him,  she  fell  sick  of  a  grievous  infirmity,  which 
deprived  her  of  the  use  of  her  limbs.  And  it  hap- 
pened that  as  the  disciples  were  at  meat  with  him  in 
his  house,  one  said  to  him: 

"  Master,  how  is  it  that  thou,  who  healest  the 
infirmities  of  others,  dost  not  heal  thy  daughter 
Petronilla?" 

**It  is  good  for  her  to  remain  sick,"  replied  her 
father,  perhaps  thinking  of  the  discipline  which  the 
pain  might  bring  to  her. 

But,  that  they  all  might  see  the  power  that  was  in 
the  word  of  God,  he  commanded  her  to  get  up  and 
serve  them  at  table — which  she  did.  And  having 
done  so,  she  lay  down  again,  helpless  as  before.  A 
few  years  afterward,  however,  being  perfected  by 
her  long  suffering,  and  praying  fervently,  the  maiden 
was  permanently  healed. 

To  this  incident  is  added  another.  Petronilla  was 
wonderfully  fair;  and  Valerius  Flaccus,  a  young  and 
noble  Roman,  who  was  a  heathen,  became  enamored 
of  her  beauty,  and  sought  her  to  be  his  wife.  He  be- 
ing very  powerful,  she  feared  to  refuse  him ;  she  there- 
fore desired  him  to  return  in  three  days,  and  prom- 
ised that  he  should  then  carry  her  home.  But  she 
prayed  earnestly  to  be  delivered  from  this  peril;  and 
when  Flaccus  returned  in  three  days  with  great  pomp, 
for  the  celebration  of  the  marriaq;e,  he  found  her  dead. 
The  company  of  nobles  who  attended  him  carried  her 
to  the  grave,  in  which  they  laid  her,  crowned  with 
roses.     And  Flaccus  lamented  greatly. 

It  is  refreshing  to  turn  from  the  mere  poetry  of  a 


SIMONS    WIPES    MOTHER.  173 

legend  to  the  serene  majesty  of  history.  And  we 
come  back  to  the  inspired  record  in  order  now  to  note 
the  details  of  this  miracle,  and  show  in  what  particu- 
lars it  is  a  parable  for  the  spiritual  cure  of  souls. 

It  would  seem  that  this  fisherman,  now  become  a 
disciple,  had  kept  an  open  house  for  his  Bethsaida 
neighbors;  for  we  read  that  Zebedee's  sons,  James 
and  John,  were  with  Simon  and  Andrew  on  this  re- 
membered occasion.  They  had  not  yet  "forsaken" 
this  home,  but  they  had  certainly  consecrated  it  to  the 
Master's  occupation  and  use. 

Luke  tells  us  that  this  woman  was  sick  of  a  ''great 
fever;"  he  was  a  physician,  and  he  knew  she  was  in 
extreme  peril.  Mark  says,  ''Anon  they  tell  Jesus  of 
her."  Then  Luke  adds  again,  "They  besought  him 
for  her."  Matthew  relates  that  our  Lord  "touched  her 
hand."  To  that  Mark  adds  that  he  "lifted  her  up;" 
and  Luke  goes  onto  say,  "He  rebuked  the  fever." 
Then  Mark  states  that  the  sickness  "immediately  left 
her;"  and  Luke  adds  further  that  ''she  arose  imme- 
diately and  ministered  unto  them."  Thus,  by  compar- 
ing all  the  accounts,  we  get  the  w^iole  story.  And 
now  is  there  a  lesson  in  almost  every  particular. 

Was  this  woman  sick  of  a  great  fever  ?  Then  we  see 
how  Christ  is  the  only  help,  but  always  the  sure  help, 
in  desperate  cases.  He  is  able  to  save  bodies  and 
souls  "to  the  uttermost." 

Did  the  disciples  go  and  tell  Jesus  of  her?  Then 
we  may  note  the  advantage  of  faith  in  the  divine  and 
sovereign  Saviour.  "None  but  Jesus  can  do  helpless 
sinners  good." 


174  SIMON  peter: 

Are  we  told  that  those  home-friends  besought  the 
Lord  in  her  behalf  ?  Then  we  learn  how  necessary  is 
fervent  prayer.  **For  all  these  things  will  I  be  in- 
quired of  by  the  house  of  Israel.'* 

Did  our  Saviour  touch  this  woman's  hand,  and  touch 
it  only,  for  her  cure?  Then  observe  how  delicate  is 
the  ministration  of  divine  grace  in  the  gospel,  and  be 
gentle  with  souls. 

Was  it  the  interposition  of  other  people  which 
availed  to  bring  this  sick  creature  to  health  ?  Then 
how  fine  is  the  office  of  human  means  and  instruments 
Avith  God.  There  is  really  a  glorious  share  in  the 
work  of  saving  souls  which  he  permits. 

Do  we  notice  that  this  woman  was  also  lifted  up 
by  Jesus?  The  miracle  is  a  parable;  God  never  lays 
a  commandment  on  any  soul  which  he  does  not  aid 
that  soul  in  performing  for  him. 

Did  the  cured  woman  rise  at  once  to  begin  her 
grateful  service?  It  is  by  that  we  know  her  heahng 
was  perfectly  done.  The  good  Lord  never  leaves 
body  or  soul  half  delivered  from  ill. 

Was  Simon's  wife's  mother  satisfied  to  minister  to 
Jesus  Christ  right  off  and  right  there?  Then  think 
how  much  valuable  time  some  impatient  people  waste 
in  trying  to  find  a  field  of  work  for  Christ,  when  most 
likely  the  best  task  lies  nearest  at  hand.  This  woman 
entered  **the  ministry"  just  as  truly  as  Simon  Peter 
did;  he  preached,  and  she  served;  that  was  ministry. 

Were  these  wonderful  privileges  misused  and  per- 
verted by  Capernaum  ?  Then  let  all  the  world  know 
and   remember  that   it  is   pre-eminently  a  dangerous 


SIMON'S   wife's   mother.  175 

thing  to  do,  this  disregard  of  the  merciful  manifesta- 
tions of  the  divine  presence  among  men.  This  fa- 
vored town  called  itself,  ''The  City  by  the  Sea."  Lof- 
tily situated  upon  what  may  have  been  the  sunny 
slopes  of  that  exact  elevation  where  Christ  delivered 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  it  heard  the  Beatitudes, 
but  rejected  the  blessings.  The  people  saw  the  mira- 
cles, but  turned  away  from  the  truth  they  were 
wrought  to  confirm;  so  the  curse  fell. 


8* 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED. 

All  along  through  the  Scripture  record  thus  far,  we 
have  noticed  that  the  daily  lessons  learned  bj^  Simon 
Peter  were  growing  apace  in  majesty  and  impressive- 
ness,  as  his  divine  Master  advanced  in  the  disclosure 
of  his  supreme  wisdom  and  power.  Jesus  had  gen- 
erously relieved  poverty  in  numberless  instances, 
soothed  pain  and  suffering,  healed  the  sick,  and  for- 
given sin  to  the  penitent. 

But  further  than  this  he  had  never  as  yet  gone. 
There  was  a  solitary  realm  of  dread  conflict  he  had  not 
before  entered  that  he  now  approached.  The  last 
enemy  to  be  destroyed  was  Death. 

When  the  hour  of  an  attack  so  solemn  and  a  tri- 
umph so  vast  awaited  his  action,  it  was  meet  that  he 
should  select  from  the  chosen  twelve  a  chosen  three  to 
become  his  witnesses.  And  these,  fortunately,  were 
the  old  friends  and  Bethsaida  neighbors,  Peter,  John, 
and  James,  whom  we  have  learned  to  know  so  well. 

It  appears  that  Jesus  had  been  invited  with  his  dis- 
ciples to  a  feast  in  the  house  of  a  conspicuous,  but 
not  very  reputable,  taxgatherer  in  Capernaum. 
While  he  was  sitting  at  meat,  there  came  a  man  to 
him  in  great  anguish.  We  are  not  informed  who  he 
was;  mention  is  made  of  him  only  as  an  officer  in  the 
synagogue,  a  Jew,  very  likely  of  I'ank  and  influence, 
perhaps  one  of  the  same  delegated  committee  of  elders 
in  Israel  who  had  come  beseeching  Jesus  to  interpose 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  i;/ 

in  behalf  of  the  Roman  centurion's  servant  some  time 
previous.  If  he  had  been  successful  in  securing-  so 
extraordinary  a  favor  before  for  another,  he  would 
now  certainly  feel  the  braver  and  the  freer  in  asking 
one  for  himself  of  the  same  sort. 

It  must  have  seriously  mortified  this  magnificent 
ruler,  however,  to  be  obliged  to  go  after  a  Nazarene 
prophet  in  the  house  of  Levi  the  publican.  But  that 
has  always  been  the  way  of  procedure.  The  haughty 
have  to  bend,  the  rich  have  to  surrender,  and  the  gos- 
pel is  generally  to  be  found  earliest  in  the  hearts  and 
the  homes  of  the  most  unpromising  men.  **  Blessed 
are  the  poor  in  spirit:  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

This  afflicted  father  was  in  most  violent  agitation. 
All  of  those  slight  confusions  we  find  in  the  record 
may  be  traced  plainly  to  this.  One  of  the  evangel- 
ists says  he  ''fell  down  at  Jesus'  feet;  "  another  men- 
tions that  he  "besought  him  greatly;  "  Matthew  states 
that  he  ''worshiped  him."  At  any  rate,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  he  announced  his  trouble  somewhat  inco- 
herently. He  had  an  invalid  daughter — she  was  all 
the  child  he  had — twelve  years  of  age.  It  appears 
that  one  of  the  disciples  heard  him  say  that  his  des- 
perate case  admitted  no  delay  whatsoever:  his  little 
girl  was  "even  now  dead;"  another  thought  he  said 
that  she  "lay  a-dying;"  and  then  a  third  quotes  the 
expression,  "at  the  point  of  death." 

Men  must  be  hard  pressed  for  arguments  and 
cavils  against  inspired  history,  and  are  liable  to 
overstrain  their  point  in  questioning  the  accuracy  of 


178  SIMON  teter: 

the  Scriptures,  when  they  force  themselves  to  present 
these  mere  touches  of  human  nature  as  discrepancies 
and  contradictions  among  the  sacred  writers.  Why, 
such  a  man  would  be  likely  to  keep  talking  all  the 
time ;  and  what  he  would  say,  in  the  hurry  of  the 
crowd,  in  the  rush  of  his  own  excited  feeling,  and  in 
the  confusion  of  rapid  and  anxious  speech,  was  that 
his  dear  child  was  dead  or  dying ;  indeed,  he  could 
not  tell  which  ;  she  was  at  the  last  gasp,  for  what  he 
knew,  when  he  left  her  bedside ;  most  probably 
she  was  gone  now ;  but  would  the  good  Rabbi  come 
over  and  just  see  if  anything  could  be  done ;  per- 
haps she  could  be  saved  yet ! 

*'  My  little  daughter  lieth  at  the  point  of  death  ;  I 
pray  thee,  come  and  lay  thy  hands  on  her,  that  she 
may  be  healed;  and  she  shall  live." 

Did  anybody  ever  know  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to 
disappoint  or  deny  one  who  trusted  him  truly,  and 
asked  for  help?  Of  course,  he  started  instantly  from 
the  table,  though  it  was  much  like  leaving  a  feast 
for  a  funeral.  And  now,  with  our  knowledge  of 
what  happened,  it  is  not  hard  to  say  whether  he  did 
not  fairly  convert  that  identical  funeral  into  a  festival 
better  than  ever  was  set  by  Jairus  himself  before  in 
his  sumptuous  house. 

The  curious  expectancy  of  the  people  around  him, 
who  had  witnessed  the  demonstration  and  heard  the 
request,  was  aroused  to  the  highest  pitch.  The  dis- 
ciples went  with  him,  and  they  were  followed  also  by 
great  numbers  of  the  by-standers.  The  moment  he 
pushed  out  into  the  street,  ''much  people  thronged  him." 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  1/9 

Just  here  the  swift  current  of  the  Bible  narrative  Is 
interrupted  suddenly  by  a  new  incident,  out  of  which 
comes  another  miracle.  Apparently  on  the  very  step, 
Jesus  meets  a  woman  in  deepest  distress.  We  can- 
not now  pause  to  rehearse  the  tale ;  it  is  of  interest 
enough  to  call  for  our  patient  study  by  itself 

Yet,  though  our  Lord  hesitated  but  an  instant, 
every  falling  sand  in  the  glass  of  time  was  to  Jairus 
more  precious  than  gold ;  a  single  minute  of  arrest 
might  turn  the  scale  of  life  and  death.  A  real  admi- 
ration for  him  springs  up  in  every  mind,  because  of  his 
amazing  fortitude  in  so  awful  an  exigency.  Not  one 
word  of  deprecation  falls  from  his  lips  ;  no  fretfulness 
of  spirit  or  gesture  showing  disapprobation  is  put  on 
record  ;  he  simply  waits  his  turn. 

Now  that  we  know  the  end,  we  can  see  that  it  was 
better  that  this  miracle  of  healing  should  come  in  at 
that  precise  point  in  order  to  deepen  the  impression 
upon  the  minds  of  the  fickle  populace  who  witnessed 
it,  and  in  order  to  quicken  Jairus'  faith  by  testing  it 
almost  to  the  limit  of  endurance.  A  fine  reward  of 
grace  eventually  was  reached  for  this  forbearance. 
No  one  ever  ventured  upon  God  his  dearest  interests, 
holding  his  trust  unbroken,  without  reason  for  grati- 
tude by  and  by. 

*'  It  is  good  that  a  man  should  both  hope  and 
quietly  wait  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  The  Lord 
is  good  unto  them  that  wait  for  him,  to  the  soul  that 
seeketh  him." 

The  company  now  started  on  again,  and  hope  be- 
gan  to   revive   anew   in  the  heart  of  that  distressed 


i8o  '   SIMON  peter: 

father.  If  only  the  great  Master  would  get  there  in 
time  !  But  the  stop  which  the  procession  already  had 
made  had  been  long  enough  for  some  one,  hastening 
with  a  mournful  announcement  from  the  scene  of 
affliction,  to  bring  rapid  tidings  to  the  ruler  that  all 
was  over ;  the  maiden  had  breathed  away  her  life ; 
it  was  of  no  use  to  go  on  any  more : 

*'Thy  daughter  is  dead:  why  troublest  thou  the 
Master  any  further  ?  " 

Our  Saviour,  alert  in  listening,  caught  this  solemn 
word  the  instant  it  was  spoken  ;  and,  before  any  harm- 
ful doubt  could  possess  the  man's  mind,  gave  him  one 
memorable  sentence  of  encouragement: 

'*  Fear  not :  believe  only,  and  she  shall  be  made 
whole." 

Some  very  singular  uses  of  individual  terms  here 
are  worth  a  brief  comment,  as  throwing  picturesque- 
ness  into  the  story.  We  are  told  that  Jesus  ''heard  " 
the  message  sent  from  home  to  Jairus,  although  it 
was  not  addressed  to  him,  nor  even  intended  for  him. 
Exactly,  the  word  is  overheard ;  and  it  occurs  only 
this  once  in  the  Bible.  One  of  our  best  scholars  ren- 
ders it  thus :  *'  Having  casually  overheard  what  was 
spoken." 

Then,  too,  the  expression,  "  Trouble  not  the  Mas- 
ter," is  exceedingly  graphic.  The  people  looked 
upon  Jesus  as  an  itinerant  evangelist — a  Messianic 
teacher  and  expositor — and  so  gave  to  him  the  usual 
name  of  Rabbi,  which  means  Master.  The  word  that 
is  rendered  trouble  also  occurs  only  here  and  in  one 
other  place,  where  it  is  employed  with  exactly  the 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  l8l 

same  meaning  and  purpose.  The  centurion,  whose 
servant  Jesus  healed,  sent  messengers  to  him  to  say: 
**  Lord,  trouble  not  thyself. "  It  signifies  fret  or  worry; 
indeed,  It  finds  its  precise  equivalent  in  our  colloquial- 
ism '*  bother." 

Hence,  the  naturalness  of  this  scene  strikes  us  at 
once.  An  anxious  member  of  the  ruler's  family 
comes  up  to  him  and  says  privately:  *'  The  little  girl 
is  dead ;  do  not  worry — or  bother — the  Rabbi  any 
further;  it  Is  of  no  use  now."  Our  Lord  overheard 
this  sad  suggestion,  and  answered,  "  Fear  not ;  only 
believe  1" 

In  truth,  Jairus*  faith  needed  this  stimulant ;  for 
when  they  reached  the  house  the  circumstances  were 
desperate.  Before  their  feet  were  inside  of  the  door 
their  ears  were  greeted  by  the  sound  of  the  hired 
mourners'  music  wildly  ringing  through  the  apart- 
ment. Quick  in  the  instincts  of  their  ordinary  trade, 
they  were  already  up  and  alive,  playing  noisily  upon 
their  exasperating  instruments. 

These  ''minstrels"  at  Eastern  funerals  make  what 
we  should  call  most  dreadful  commotion.  They  are 
almost  always  alert  for  employment.  Mourning  cus- 
toms are  merely  conventional  in  those  countries, 
and  are  governed  by  local  fashion.  In  some  cases 
professional  weepers  beat  their  breasts  with  frantic 
gesticulations,  filling  the  house  with  lamentations  in 
poetry  and  prose.  They  recite  the  virtues  of  the  de- 
parted, and  bewail  their  melancholy  loss,  and  seek  to 
harrow  up  the  feelings  of  the  standers-by.  Occasion- 
ally they  cut  their  own  flesh  with  weapons,  and  rend 


1 82  SIMON    PETER: 

their  garments  in  mock  despair.  The  Instruments 
they  use  for  accompaniment  are  very  simple  ;  mere 
n^utesor  reeds,  making  with  their  voices  forlorn  mono- 
tones of  moaning  in  a  strident  and  shrill  key.  It  is 
said  by  some,  however,  that  on  great  occasions  they 
bring  even  trumpets  or  cornets  of  brass,  and  seem 
determined  to  force  sorrow  with  upVoar. 

They  must  have  expected  good  fees  in  this  in- 
stance, for  they  were  on  hand  betimes,  and  exceed- 
ingly hard  at  their  work  when  Jesus  arrived.  And  we 
have  one  hint  that  they  were  especially  angry  in 
their  scorn  at  his  words  when  he  bade  them  away. 
He  had  forcibly  to  eject  them  when  he  entered  the 
chamber  of  the  dead. 

All  this  needs  to  be  borne  in  mind  carefully,  for  it 
becomes  valuable  in  relation  to  a  doubt  which  has 
been  started.  Some  few  expositors  have  seemed  to 
understand  that  our  Lord's  words  are  to  be  taken 
literally,  when  he  exclaimed  in  expostulation : 

*'Why  make  ye  this  ado,  and  weep? — the  damsel 
is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth." 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  modern  preachers  de- 
liberately considers  this  maiden's  case  one  of  ''sus- 
pended animation,"  and  discharges  the  meaning  and 
force  of  our  Lord's  miracle  as  a  mere  "  restoration 
from  apparent  death  ;"  then  he  employs  the  incident 
as  a  text  to  preach  a  sermon  from  in  behalf  of  the 
Humane  Society,  that  proposes  to  resuscitate  all 
people  half  dead  from  drowning,  or  asphyxiated  from 
having  inhaled  noxious  vapors  in  the  mines ! 

How  strange  it  seems  to  find  any  misunderstand- 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  1 83 

Ing  lodged  upon  so  plain  a  statement  as  this  !  The 
messenger  who  met  the  procession  said  this  maiden 
was  dead.  The  whole  company  of  by-standers  joined 
in  to  laugh  Jesus  to  scorn  when  they  thought  he 
spoke  literally,  *' knowing  that  she  was  dead."  So 
when  we  are  told  explicitly,  **The  damsel  arose,"  the 
word  is  employed  which  over  and  over  again  is  ap- 
plied to  undoubted  resurrection.  "  Her  spirit  came 
again" — so  the  record  reads.  If  this  maiden  was 
only  lying  in  an  unconscious  or  comatose  state,  why 
did  not  Jesus  inform  the  agonized  father  of  that  fact, 
and  relieve  his  unnecessary  solicitude  and  suffering  ? 
Why  did  he  not  correct  the  messenger  of  evil  tid- 
ings : 

"  Oh,  this  child  is  only  in  a  trance  ;  she  will  re- 
cover soon  !" 

No  ;  this  was  Christ's  way  of  declaring  that  to  the 
believers  he  loves  death  is  but  a  slumber;  the  sure 
waking  is  just  beyond  It.  He  said  the  same  thing  on 
the  way  to  Bethany  with  his  disciples : 

*'Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth  ;  but  I  go  that  I  may 
awake  him  out  of  sleep.  Then  said  his  disciples : 
'Lord,  if  he  sleep,  he  shall  do  well.'  Howbeit 
Jesus  spake  of  his  death ;  but  they  thought 
that  he  had  spoken  of  taking  of  rest  in  sleep. 
Then  said  Jesus  unto  them  plainly :  Lazarus  is 
dead." 

So  he  said  now  that  a  dead  damsel  was  asleep  ;  and 
what  he  intended  to  say  was  that  hereafter,  under 
the  Gospel,  the  old  despairing  notion  of  death  was 
utterly  abolished  ;  the  dawn  was  just   ready  behind 


1 84  SIMON  peter: 

the  darkness,  the  radiant  morning  beyond  the  solemn 
night. 

A  most  interesting  picture  now  rises  upon  our 
Imagination  as  we  return  to  the  narrative.  The  dwell- 
ing is  at  last  decorously  silent  and  tranquil.  No 
evidence  of  that  ruler's  faith  could  be  offered  more 
convincing  than  the  unquestioning  acquiescence  he 
displays  in  all  the  instant  assumption  of  authority  by 
Jesus  there  under  his  own  roof  The  true  master  of 
the  house  is  Christ  from  the  moment  he  enters.  And 
the  proprietor  interposes  no  word  of  prohibition  when 
the  vociferous  minstrels  are  interrupted,  nor  even 
does  he  check  their  departure  when  they  are  finally 
turned  out  of  their  work  and  out  of  the  dwelling. 
He  knew  they  would  not  be  wanted. 

They  enter  the  chamber  of  death ;  they  gather 
around  the  bed.  Central  in  the  group  stands  the 
Son  of  God.  Near  him  are  the  awe-struck  parents. 
Behind  him  are  three  of  the  disciples:  James,  quiet 
and  retiring  ;  John,  earnest  and  affectionate; 
Peter,  more  eager  and  forward,  to  see  what  is 
going  on.  Simon's  education  will  progress  by 
one  vast  advance  to-day,  for  he  will  behold  God's 
glory  ! 

Seven  persons  only  are  in  that  room,  and  one  of 
them  is  the  maiden  dead.  They  had  most  likely 
taken  off  the  simple  jewels  she  was  beginning  to 
wear,  and  removed  the  small  string  of  silver  coins  she 
was  wont  to  braid  around  her  forehead  :  nobody  im- 
agined she  was  ever  any  more  to  need  a  dowry  after 
this.      In  calm  simplicity,  she   now  lies,  all  faults  and 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  1C5 

foibles  forgotten,  straightened  upon  the  couch  where 
she  died.  We  cannot  help  quoting  the  Russian 
proverb:  **  Two  hands  upon  the  breast,  and  labor  Is 
past."  This  small  girl  does  not  appear  as  a  mere 
child  In  our  eyes  just  now;  for  the  King  of  Terrors 
has  crowned  her  with  the  majesty  of  her  Inalienable 
womanhood,  and  thrown  around  her  person  the 
peerless  dignity  of  death. 

At  once  to  the  head  of  the  bed  came  the  weary 
father — that  anxious,  well-to-do,  but  helpless  man, 
loving  his  only  child  with  all  his  heart.  One  look 
towards  him  from  his  desolate  wife,  bending  over  the 
maiden,  told  him  truly  earthly  hope  was  at  an  end. 

But  now  Jesus,  the  Nazarene  Rabbi,  drew  near; 
he  took  the  Inanimate  damsel  by  the  hand,  and  said 
unto  her  : 

^^  TalitJia-aimi r^  which  is,  being  Interpreted, 
''Damsel!  (I  say  unto  thee)  arise!" 

Ah,  we  might  have  known  we  should  hear  the 
sweet  accents  of  that  Aramaic  language  now !  When 
in  the  coasts  of  Decapolis  they  once  brought  to 
Christ  one  that  was  deaf,  and  had  an  Impediment  In 
his  speech,  he  touched  his  tongue  and  put  his  fingers 
into  his  ears,  and,  looking  up  to  heaven,  he  sighed, 
and  said,  ^^  EphpJiatha,  that  is,  Be  opened."  This 
was  the  language  which  arrested  Saul  on  his  way  to 
Damascus;  for  Jesus  called  him  out  of  heaven  In  Its 
words  of  pathetic  challenge,  '*  Why  persecutest  thou 
me!"  Even  when  on  the  cross  during  the  three 
hours'  darkness  Jesus  ''  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  say- 
ing,  Eloi^  Eloi,  lama  sabachthaiii?    which  Is,  being 


1 86  SIMON  peter: 

interpreted,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me?"  Thus,  whenever  our  Lord  grew  un- 
usually or  unutterably  solemn,  in  the  greatest  mo- 
ments of  his  history,  he  fell  back  upon  the  touching 
patois  of  Palestine,  and  used  the  terms  of  the  mother- 
tongue  in  which  he  was  born. 

The  remaining  details  of  the  story  we  are  rehears- 
ing are  exceedingly  graphic.  Death  yielded  up  his 
prey  at  the  demand  of  one  mightier  than  he.  The 
soul  of  that  damsel  came  back  again  to  this  world. 
Her  recovery  was  immediate  and  complete.  ''She 
arose,  and  walked."  Her  parents  were  overwhelmed. 
They  became  ''astonished  with  a  great  astonishment." 
Mark's  words  are,  '*  They  stood  in  avast  ecstasy." 
It  is  likely  theirdelight  was  embarrassed  by  the  depth 
of  their  amazement.  When  the  Lord  so  suddenly 
turned  again  the  captivity  of  their  distress,  they  were 
like  them  that  dreamed. 

This  bewilderment  of  awe-struck  wonder  mingled 
with  fond  affection  was  interrupted  in  a  tranquil  way 
by  Jesus  himself,  whose  commonplace  wisdom  called 
them  to  themselves  with  two  suggestions. 

He  told  the  parents  that  they  ought  to  give  the 
feeble  child  something  to  eat.  Perhaps  he  feared 
that  some  caviler  would  report  she  was  not  really 
alive  after  all,  only  apparently  resuscitated.  More 
likely,  however,  he  desired  to  evidence  that  her 
restoration  was  perfect  from  the  moment  he  spoke 
to  her;  she  was  not  only  living,  but  was  well,  and 
might  now  go  on  harmlessly  with  life  as  usual. 
After  her  long  fast  and  the  wasting  of  her  illness,  the 


JAIRUS     DAUGHTER    RAISED.  1 8/ 

girl  would  need  some  sort  of  strengthening  sus- 
tenance. 

Then  after  that  Christ  commanded  those  around 
him,  who  witnessed  the  miracle,  that  they  should  not 
noise  it  abroad.  Let  the  whole  matter  be  kept  quiet. 
Possibly  he  desired  to  restrain  enthusiastic  demon- 
strations on  the  part  of  his  followers,  and  keep  them 
from  unnecessarily  arousing  the  Jews'  animosity  and 
precipitating  upon  him  their  violence.  His  hour 
had  not  yet  come.  He  may  have  wished  also  to 
moderate  the  fanatical  superstition  which  would  con- 
stitute him  a  mere  wonder-worker,  and  would  belittle 
his  teaching  with  new  clamors  for  more  miracles. 
He  was  at  the  moment  surrounded  with  village  mul- 
titudes. A  mighty  concourse  of  Capernaum  people 
were  ready  to  exclaim  again,  "We  have  seen  strange 
things  to-day  ! "  He  needed  time  now  for  patiently 
instructing  his  followers. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  among  the  rest  Simon 
Peter  stood  at  our  Lord's  side  during  all  these  events. 
He  had  overheard  the  messenger  out  in  the  street 
saying  that  this  maiden  was  dead;  he  had  noticed 
what  a  temptation  that  announcement  had  offered  to 
Jairus'  faith  to  surrender:  now  what  a  lesson  of 
triumph  he  learned  !  Really,  it  would  seem  as  if  here 
was  where  he  got  the  fine  thoughts  he  puts  in  his 
First  Epistle,  when  he  encourages  believers  to  hold 
tenaciously  to  their  confidence,  no  matter  what 
should  happen  ever: 

"Ye  greatly  rejoice,  though  now  for  a  season  (if 
need  be)  ye  are  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temp- 


1 88  SIMON  peter: 

tations:  that  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much 
more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it 
be  tried  with  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise,  and 
honor,  and  glory,  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ." 

And  one  thing  more  did  Simon  Peter  learn  on  this 
momentous  occasion,  which  he  never  forgot.  It  was 
the  chief  recollection  that  strengthened  him  for  the 
mighty  grasp  of  his  faith,  when  alone  he  kneeled  by 
the  bed-side  of  Dorcas,  and  put  forth  his  poor  hand 
for  the  lifting  of  a  dead  woman  into  hfe.  He  learned 
that  this  sympathetic  Son  of  Mary — Son  of  God — 
held  the  mastery  forever  over  relentless  Death.  In 
his  name  mortality  put  on  immortality. 

We  must  remember,  however,  that  this  was  his^ 
earliest  lesson  in  such  a  behalf  Other  two  were  to 
come.  And  the  progression  in  these  wonders  is 
plainly  perceptible.  The  first  case  of  resurrection 
was  this  of  one  scarcely  out  of  life,  still  warm  with 
the  pulses  which  had  only  just  ceased  beating.  Then 
came  the  miracle  at  Nain;  and  the  widow's  son  was 
out  upon  his  bier,  and  they  were  actually  bearing 
him  away  to  burial.  Then  came  the  raising  of  Laz- 
arus, four  days  in  the  sepulchre  already.  So  the 
wonders  grew.  An  only  daughter — an  only  son — 
an  only  brother — given  back  again ! 

Think  of  the  majesty  of  that  moment  in  this  world's 
history,  when  Jesus  Christ  declared  that  solemn,  ir- 
revocable death  was  only  a  Christian's  sleep  !  Out- 
side of  that  small  dwelling  in  Capernaum,  a  great  race 
of  men  rushed  and  toiled,  as  they  harassed  conti- 
nents and  seas ;   mighty  events  marshaled  themselves 


JAIRUS'    DAUGHTER    RAISED.  189 

into  annals  and  pageants.  What  was  inside  ?  In  one 
inconspicuous  chamber  of  a  forgotten  house,  man's 
Redeemer,  unobserved,  mastered  man's  final  enemy: 
Immanuel  subdued  death,  and  forever  made  captivity 
captive  ! 

So  now  we  can  see  easily  why  a  Christian's  song, 
like  that  a  thousand  years  ago  credited  to  the  swan, 
is  the  sweetest  in  dying :  it  is  because  believers  only 
say  **  Good  night "  when  they  die,  and  wait  for  the 
sure  dawn  in  which  to  say  **  Good  morning!" 

**  Life  !  we  've  been  long  together, 
Through  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather; 
'T  is  hard  to  part  Avhen  friends  are  dear, 
Perhaps  't  will  cost  a  sigh  or  tear  ; 
Then  steal  away — give  little  warning — 

Choose  thine  own  time — 
Say  not  'Good  night,'  but  in  some  happier  clime 

Bid  me  *  Good  morning  !'  " 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SHEEP  WITHOUT  A  SHEPHERD. 

We  must  remember  that  whenever  in  the  Scripture 
record  the  apostles  are  mentioned,  during  the  period 
of  their  discipleship  under  the  personal  teaching  of 
Jesus,  Simon  Peter  is  of  course  included ;  and  that 
whenever  the  gospel  of  Mark,  which  he  is  supposed 
to  have  supervised,  grows  more  bright  and  detailed 
than  the  rest,  we  may  suppose  Simon  Peter's  educa- 
tion is  proceeding  apace.  He  is  gaining  information 
which  he  afterward  communicates. 

The  part  of  Peter's  history  upon  which  we  enter 
now  definitely  connects  itself  with  the  first  mission- 
ary tour  which  the  followers  of  our  Lord  made 
through  the  villages  and  towns  of  Galilee.  He  is 
now  a  preacher  of  the  gospel ;  he  is  a  veritable  fisher 
of  human  souls ;  he  is  a  worker  of  miracles. 

The  faithful  disciples  of  our  Lord  were  just  now  on 
their  way  home  to  make  report  of  what  they  had  ac- 
complished in  Galilee.  They  had  been  traveling 
around  among  the  people,  casting  out  devils,  healing 
the  sick,  and  proclaiming  everywhere  that  men  must 
repent  of  their  sins.  Full  of  exhilaration  and  joy  at 
their  success,  they  were  suddenly  met  by  tidings  of 
the  greatest  moment,  and  of  the  deepest  grief 

From  the  lonely  castle  of  Machaerus  came  the 
news  that  John  the  Baptist  had  at  last  sealed  his  work 
by  his  martyrdom.    The  chosen  twelve  hastened  back 


SHEEP  WITHOUT  A  SHEPHERD.       I91 

in  time  to  receive  his  mutilated  remains,  and  lay 
them  in  the  sepulchre.  The  great  and  shining  light 
of  the  new  dispensation  had  in  one  savage  moment 
of  lust  been  put  out  by  the  king,  in  order  to  gratify 
the  spite  of  a  wicked  woman,  and  answer  the  whim 
of  a  dancing  girl.  These  disciples  felt  the  unutter- 
able gloom  deepening  around  them.  It  is  plain  that 
they  were  heavily  depressed  in  spirits.  The  record 
is  exceedingly  affecting  in  its  artless  simplicity, 
especially  in  one  verse  which  Matthew  adds  to  the 
narrative  in  Mark :  '*  And  his  disciples  came,  and 
took  up  the  body,  and  buried  it,  and  went  and  told 
Jesus." 

As  soon  as  the  Saviour  learned  what  his  disciples* 
errand  was,  he  made  provision  for  a  better  season  of 
quiet.  No  doubt  the  confusion  which  the  multitudes 
made  added  to  their  excitement.  They  needed  re- 
pose ;  they  needed  instruction ;  they  needed  sym- 
pathy. For  they  had  discovered  already  the  truth  of 
that  prediction,  announced  before  they  began  their 
round  of  unappreciated  service,  that  every  true 
Christian  was  going  forth  as  a  sheep  among  wolves, 
and  in  the  end  would  find  himself  wounded  and  torn 
to  pieces.  One  faithful  friend  they  knew  they  pos- 
sessed: they  could  go  and  tell  Jesus. 

*'  And  he  said  unto  them,  *  Come  ye  yourselves 
apart  into  a  desert  place,  and  rest  awhile  ' :  for  there 
were  many  coming  and  going,  and  they  had  no  leis- 
ure so  much  as  to  eat.  And  they  departed  into  a 
desert  place  by  ship  privately." 

Unrestricted  intercourse  with  him  was  utterly  im- 


192  SIMON   teter: 

possible  anywhere  in  that  region.  An  irresponsible 
and  oppressive  crowd  tumultuously  thronged  the 
streets  and  the  houses.  The  disciples  gained  no  time 
even  for  the  commonest  and  most  indispensable  du- 
ties of  existence.  They  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep, 
simply  because  the  curious  people  came  and  went  so 
promiscuously  around  them.  Possibly  it  will  be  as 
well  to  raise  and  answer  the  question  here  as  at  any 
other  time — Where  did  all  these  multitudes  come 
from  ? 

Many  of  them  were  the  inhabitants  of  Capernaum, 
of  course ;  a  seaside  city  has  always  enough  to  make 
a  rabble  out  of  But  these  masses  were  augmented 
largely  by  mere  curiosity-seekers  from  those  villages 
which  had  communication  with  this  market.  Nor 
must  we  imagine  that  the  audiences  thronging  Jesus 
Avere  all  mere  idlers  that  had  no  errand ;  many  of 
them  were  believers.  We  know  there  was  even  then 
a  respectable  company  of  permanent  adherents  of  the 
Master,  who  actually  followed  him  from  place  to 
place,  ministering  in  many  ways  to  his  wants,  and 
increasing  his  fame  by  the  steadfastness  of  their  faith. 
Out  of  these  the  company  of  seventy  new  disciples 
already  had  been  commissioned.  And  further,  the 
great  ebb  and  flow  of  the  local  people  was  increased 
at  these  times  by  excited  troops  of  pilgrims,  begin- 
ning to  press  along  on  the  country  thoroughfares, 
going  up  to  Jerusalem  for  the  annual  Passover.  They 
had  heard  concerning  Jesus'  miracles,  and  would  de- 
sire to  see  all  they  could  of  one  who  boldly  claimed 
to  be  the  promised  Messiah  of  the  nation. 


SHEEP  WITHOUT  A  SHEPHERD.       1 93 

Simon  Peter  told  Mark,  so  that  he  has  put  it  on 
record,  that  early  in  our  Lord's  Galilean  ministry- 
precaution  had  been  taken  to  have  a  "  small  ship  " 
wait  upon  him,  in  case  of  a  sudden  emergency  aris- 
ing like  this.  There  was  that  in  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  twelve  disciples,  which  rendered  it  an  im- 
perative necessity  for  entire  rest  to  be  allowed  them. 
They  would  have  to  retire  where  the  thoughtful 
Teacher  could  converse  with  them  alone  at  his  will. 

Our  picture  is  now  full  of  interest.  They  em- 
barked upon  the  calm  surface  of  Lake  Gennesaret, 
over  which  they  had  sailed  so  many  times  together. 
They  were  soon  away  from  the  yellow  beach,  and  off 
on  the  water.  These  men  knew  every  secluded  spot 
in  the  vicinity  all  around  the  shore.  They  moved 
tranquilly  along,  apparently  not  noticing  that  they 
were  eagerly  watched  from  the  town.  Their  steers- 
man— most  likely  Simon  Peter — struck  his  course 
almost  directly  across,  towards  a  familiar  landing  on 
the  eastern  border  up  north,  near  the  village  of  Beth- 
saida — that  other  Bethsaida,  afterwards  named 
Julias.  *' A  desert  place,"  this  is  called  in  the  story. 
But  we  are  not  to  understand  that  it  was  a  bare,  deso- 
late, verdureless  spot  It  was  an  uninhabited  and 
retired  retreat :  but  in  itself  it  seems  to  have  been 
beautiful,  and  clothed  with  exuberant  grass  and  all 
the  luxuriance  of  that  climate  in  spring.  It  was, 
doubtless,  a  tract  of  either  plain  or  meadow,  some- 
what extensive,  sloping  pleasantly  up  along  the  de- 
clivities of  the  mountains  of  Golan,  the  fringes  of 
whose    covering    forest    came    down    nearly    to    the 


194  SIMON  peter: 

beach.       It   was    easily  reached   with   a    few    hours' 
rowing. 

Mooring  their  Httle  vessel  securely  on  the  sands, 
the  company  wended  their  way  up  out  of  the  hot 
sunshine  into  the  welcome  enclosure  offered  by  the 
rich  grove  of  walnuts  and  oaks,  stretching  away  up 
the  hillside  before  them.  And  now  if  it  were  pos- 
sible for  us  to  know  what  was  the  conversation  which 
they  had  together,  when  once  they  had  arrived 
within  the  wooded  seclusion,  we  could  easily  answer 
each  question  that  arises  concerning  their  purpose  in 
going  there.  But  the  details  have  not  been  put  on 
record.  That  shadowed  nook  will  always  rivet  our 
attention,  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  retreats 
around  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  For  it  once  sheltered 
our  human  Redeemer  and  his  friends  when  they 
needed  repose. 

The  most  evident  purpose  of  this  temporary  with- 
drawal of  the  disciples,  next  to  the  rendering  of  their 
report  to  Jesus,  was  the  immediate  physical  and  men- 
tal relief  of  an  hour  of  communion  alone.  These 
faithful  men  had  been  on  a  long  and  fatiguing  errand 
of  zeal.  They  needed  food,  and  they  must  have 
quiet,  or  they  would  break. 

Out  of  this  eminent  example  comes  the  most 
prosaic  of  all  religious  counsels.  Men  and  women 
who  are  in  the  hurry  of  Christian  work  demand 
periods  of  repose  and  recuperation.  No  person  is 
ever  under  obligation  to  wear  himself  out  in  efforts 
for  the  upbuilding  of  God's  kingdom  or  the  conver- 
sion of  souls,  any  more  than  in  anything  else.     In- 


SHEEP    WITHOUT   A    SHEPHERD.  1 95 

deed,  there  Is  a  siDiritual   economy  in  labor  that  is  of 
the  highest  wisdom  in  exercise.     We  can  do  more 
for  Christ  simply  by  doing  what   we  do  in   accord- 
ance with  laws  of  resource  and  exhaustion.     These 
disciples   w^ere   only   human ;    and   the   fact   is,  their 
nerves  w^ere  all  unstrung  with  too  much   exertion ; 
they  were  excited  and  over-taxed,  perhaps  alarmed 
and     demoralized,    under    the     news    of    a    real  in- 
stance   of    martyrdom.      They    wanted    just    what 
that    shaded     forest,    with    Jesus     Christ    in     com- 
panionship, could  furnish  them  in  its  sequestered  re- 
cesses.    How  welcome,  even  for  an   hour,  would  be 
the  songs  of  the  spring  birds  upon  their  ears,  now  so 
wearied  and  ringing  with  the  clamors  of  fluctuating 
multitudes !     How  refreshing  on  their  foreheads  would 
be  the  stress  of  the  cool  winds,  stealing  up  from  the 
water  through  the  leaves  which  bent  to  let  them  pass ! 
An  idle  moment  for  spiritual  renewal  under  circum- 
stances  of  bodily  repose — ^just  that  was  their  neces- 
sity; and  Jesus  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  they  had 
it  without  delay.     Such  seasons  of  tranquil  medita- 
tion and  personal  communion  with   the  Saviour  are 
positively   needful    for   the    recreation    of    Christian 
vigor.     It  was  the  Bride's  sad  lament  in  the  Song  of 
Songs:  *'  They  made  me  the  keeper  of  the  vineyards : 
mine  own  vineyard  have  I  not  kept." 

Still  there  was  another  purpose  beyond  this :  our 
Lord  invited  his  disciples  away  into  that  w^ood  beside 
the  sea,  that  he  might  impress  upon  their  minds 
rieht  views  of  the  new  Christian  life. 

No  one  can  fail  to  observe  that  from  this  time  for- 


196  SIMON  peter: 

ward,  everything  in  the  teaching  and  action  of  Jesus 
himself  grows  thoughtful  even  to  a  sort  of  mournful 
solemnity.  His  mind  was  borne  upon  much  by  the 
awful  murder  of  John  the  Baptist.  His  disciples 
really  had  no  reason  to  be  surprised  by  such  results 
of  faithful  dealing.  They  had  been  told  that  the 
world  hated  them.  They  had  considered  that  an- 
nouncement well,  or  at  least  they  thought  they  had. 
Yet  when  the  blow  fell,  it  gave  them  a  shuddering 
shock.  Their  imaginations  were  arrested  by  the 
silence  and  dungeon-gloom  of  death  in  the  darkness. 
There  was  something  so  horrible  in  this  cutting  off 
one's  head  with  a  blunt  blow  of  an  axe  or  sword. 
Decapitation  was  never  practised  as  a  method  of  ex- 
ecution. A  mere  wish  of  this  wanton  girl  had  fash- 
ioned a  new  and  brutal  sort  of  mutilation.  An 
irresponsible  caprice,  gloating  over  an  obscene  re- 
venge, had  given  a  fresh  turn  of  ingenuity  to  injustice. 
The  order  of  doom  had  proceeded  with  such  reckless 
abruptness;  the  motives  which  had  actuated  Herodias 
were  so  mean  and  infamous;  indeed,  all  the  circum- 
stances that  attended  the  execution  were  so  unex- 
pected and  irrelevant,  that  they  were  frightened. 
They  learned  suddenly  how  true  it  was  for  them  all 
that  they  stood  in  jeopardy  every  hour.  A  tenure 
most  frail  was  that  upon  which  they  held  their  own 
lives.  Permitted  freedom  from  arrest  was  all  they 
could  claim ;  and  now  whose  turn  would  come 
next? 

But  then  we   discover  that,   as   soon   as  the  little 
band  had  arrived,  and  were  seated  with  him  under 


SHEEP  WITHOUT  A  SHEPHERD.       1 97 

the  trees,  Jesus  began  to  instruct  them  as  to  the  un- 
certainty of  all  life  which  is  truly  Christian.  He 
foresaw  his  own  painful  end,  and  he  understood  that 
each  one  of  those  men  before  him  had  sorrowful 
times  coming  on.  No  word  of  his  can  be  construed 
to  hint  that  they  were  to  avoid  trouble,  even  of  the 
most  serious  kind  ;  he  only  counseled  them  how  they 
should  deal  with  the  troubles  they  had.  He  desired 
that  their  trials  should  find  them  prepared,  brave, 
gentle,  patient.  It  must  have  been  encouraging  to 
those  men  who  loved  him  with  all  their  hearts.  He 
surely  pointed  them  forward  to  another  life  than 
this.  He  made  them  see  that  the  violent  w^orld 
would  malign  and  oppose  them;  they  must  overcome 
the  world ;  things  would  be  better  by  and  by. 
"  Now  no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be 
joyous,  but  grievous  :  nevertheless,  afterward  it 
yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  unto 
them  which  are  exercised  thereby." 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  just  what  our  Lord  did  ;  they 
were  interrupted  by  a  crowd  before  long.  But  we 
feel  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  compassionate  Saviour 
suffered  their  natural  emotion  to  find  vent  without 
any  rebuke.  He  gave  them  proper  indulgence  in 
mourning  over  the  loss  of  one  so  dear  as  John  the 
Baptist.  And,  no  doubt,  they  told  over  and  over 
the  reminiscences  of  his  career.  Where  was  there 
ever  before  a  forerunner  so  brave,  a  preacher  so 
faithful,  a  hero  so  noble  .>  He  was  Jesus'  affectionate 
kinsman;  he  had  most  likely  baptized  Andrew,  Peter, 
and  John.     Christ   had  loved  and  trusted  him  ;  in- 


198  SIMON    PETER  : 

deed,  he  once  said  publicly  that  John  was  the  great- 
est man  ever  born  of  woman.  And  now  we  may  be 
certain  that  when  the  disciples  went  and  told  him,  he 
would  point  out  to  them  how  fine  a  thing  it  was  just 
to  be  genuine  and  true  and  steady  to  the  end.  And 
if  Simon  Peter  got  up  on  his  feet  to  say  he  was  not 
going  to  break  for  all  this,  it  would  have  been  just 
like  him.  And  if  the  rest  thought  so,  and  said  noth- 
ing, it  would  have  been  just  like  them,  too. 

Perhaps  they  bowed  their  heads  and  wept ;  if  they 
did,  it  was  not  un-Christian  nor  unmanly.  "Jesus 
wept  "  once ;  possibly  more  than  once.  There  are 
times  when  God  asks  nothing  of  his  children  except 
silence,  patience,  and  tears.  He  lets  them  go  aside, 
away  from  interruption,  in  order  to  weep  till  nature 
is  relieved  of  her  heaviest  burden;  then  he  gives  *'  a 
season  of  clear  shining  that  cometh  after  rain." 

At  last  the  quiet  of  their  seclusion  was  interrupted. 
While  the  company  lingered  in  the  sweet  solemnity 
of  their  communion,  an  increasing  murmur  of  strange 
voices  gathering  near  began  to  be  distinguished. 
The  unmistakable  signs  of  an  audience  were  in 
the  air,  floating  up  from  the  plain  below.  With 
matchless  acquiescence,  Jesus  arose  from  his  rest  and 
gave  signal  for  work  once  more.  It  is  true  they  were 
all  wearied;  this  hour  was  luxury;  but  the  call  was 
made,  and  Peter  learned  that  ease  must  always  yield 
to  duty. 

Tidings  were  brought  to  them,  sitting  in  the 
shadows  of  the  walnut-forest,  that  ten  thousand  men, 
women,   and   children  (so,   generally,   commentators 


SHEEP    WITHOUT    A    SHEPHERD.  1 99 

reckon  their  number)  were  tranquilly  awaiting  the 
Saviour's  reappearance,  in  order  that,  perhaps,  they 
might  hsten  again  to  the  words  of  eternal  life.  We 
can  have  no  doubt  that  every  human  feeling  those 
disciples  had  was  reluctant.  Mourning  over  their 
bereavement,  and  fatigued  with  the  journey  through 
Galilee,  they  would  have  preferred  to  be  left  in 
peace.  But  there  was  no  discharge  in  that  war.  As 
ever,  the  great,  fallen,  needy  world  rushed  and 
roared  tumultuously  around  them  ;  it  demanded  its 
Redeemer ;  its  only  Hope  must  be  followed  up, 
even  if  he  had  retired  into  the  mountains  of  Golan. 
When  did  it  ever  allow  anybody  to  rest  ? 

It  is  most  instructive  to  observe  that  Jesus 
Christ  does  not,  even  in  the  least  degree,  share 
the  impatience  of  those  disciples.  He  arises  se- 
renely and  instantly,  saying  by  his  action  what  he 
afterward  said  in  speech  :  '*  My  Father  worketh  hith- 
erto, and  I  work."  Oh,  great,  brave  Life  was  that, 
addressing  itself  tirelessly  to  a  thankless  labor  for 
souls  that  were  going  to  reject  him  in  the  end  !  He 
who  stayed  in  the  glare  of  the  noontide  at  Sychar 
to  speak  with  one  poor,  wicked  woman,  with  a  wish 
to  save  her  soul,  now  advanced,  unhesitant  as  ever, 
forth  from  his  solitude  to  make  effort  for  a  thousand. 
Once  out  from  under  the  trees,  looking  down  along 
the  verdured  slope  clear  to  the  beach,  the  disciples 
all  saw  that  vast  multitude.  But  only  the  emotions 
of  their  Master  are  recorded :  "  And  Jesus,  when  he 
came  out,  saw  much  people,  and  was  moved  with 
compassion  toward  them,  because  they  were  as  sheep 
9* 


200  SIMON    PETER: 

not  having  a  shepherd  :   and  he  began  to  teach  them 
many  things." 

There  the  great  Rabbi  stood  In  full  view ;  they 
discovered  him  at  one  and  the  same  instant  A 
wild  confusion  of  human  voices,  perhaps,  arose  in 
the  air.  Just  here  this  picture  flashes  itself  upon 
our  imagination,  wonderfully  fine  and  beautiful. 
Emerging  from  the  shadows  of  the  copse  of  green, 
the  forms  of  their  bright,  flowing,  garments  must 
have  been  imaged  against  it  in  evident  outline. 
Our  eyes  seem  to  see  the  scene.  The  Saviour  stands 
a  little  advanced,  but  the  faithful  friends  of  his 
choice,  the  companions  of  his  perils,  are  just  behind 
him.  Those  unnumbered  multitudes  are  surging 
and  swaying  in  groups,  down  on  the  sands  and 
along  up  the  sides  of  the  hill — a  mighty,  undisci- 
phned  audience.  They  have  all  only  one  center; 
with  eager  eyes  each  is  looking  upwards  anxiously, 
just  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Immanuel,  and  to  implore 
his  help  ! 

Who  were  all  these  men  and  women  ?  They  were 
what  are  generally  called  the  masses.  The  persist- 
ency, with  which  the  common  people  continued  to 
follow  Jesus  is  a  proof  that  his  popularity  thus  far 
had  not  been  lessened  by  the  outbreak  of  Herodlas 
in  attacking  him  through  John  the  Baptist.  There 
they  were — the  world  in  miniature — directly  before 
him;  a  harmless  company,  with  no  one  to  be  their 
spokesman,  no  one  to  be  their  guide,  no  one  to  care 
for  them,  no  one  to  be  responsible  for  them.  They 
appeared  just  like  one  of  those  vagrant  flocks  our 


SHEEP    WITHOUT    A    SHEPHERD.  201 

Lord  was  accustomed  to  see  on  the  pasture-grounds 
of  grassy  hills.  As  he  marked  their  excited  looks, 
their  aimless  hurry,  unfolded,  unprotected,  and  un- 
led,  he  compared  the  whole  crowd  instinctively  to 
sheep  without  a  shepherd.  A  shepherd  is  cvcrytJiing 
to  sheep.  It  may  suggest  new  thought  to  imagine 
now  and  then  what  the  multitudes  are  **  without,"  as 
Avell  as  what  they  are  with ;  what  they  lack,  as  well 
as  what  they  have.  All  that  any  shepherd  could  be 
to  a  helpless  flock — just  that  they  miss. 

Suppose  Simon  Peter,  standing  there  on  the  ridge 
of  the  hill,  had  asked,  What  is  to  be  done  now  for 
this  crowd?  Much  help  would  come  to  him,  we  may 
be  sure,  from  a  careful  observation  of  what  the  Mas- 
ter did  do.  Two  things  would  concern  him;  two 
things  concern  us  now :  how  did  our  Lord  feel,  and 
what  did  he  set  about?  What  was  in  the  Saviour's 
heart?  And  what  was  in  his  hand?  Peter  gave 
Mark  the  replies  to  these  questions. 

**  He  was  moved  with  compassion  towards  them;" 
this  exhibits  Jesus'  feelings.  What  does  it  mean? 
What  is  compassion  ?  A  little  dry  etymology,  per- 
haps, may  be  permitted  here.  This  word  compassion 
comes  from  two  Latin  words,  con  signifying  together, 
2ind passio  signifying  suffering.  Just  so,  precisely,  a 
word  signifying  in  the  Greek  language  together,  and 
another  signifying  sufferings  go  in  to  make  up  our 
common  word  sympathy.  Jesus  seems  to  have  known 
that  what  the  throng  before  him  needed  most  was 
that  he  should  suffer  together  with  them.  Oh,  that 
this  were  our  experience  always!     The  great  com- 


202  siMOX  peter: 

mon  humanity  pulses  in  our  veins.  What  these 
masses,  as  we  call  them,  these  "souls,"  as  Christ  on 
the  hillside  gazed  over  them,  want  beyond  every 
other  earthly  want  is  that  this  warm  heart  of  human- 
ity should  beat  with  them  while  it  beats  for  them. 

Very  suggestive  is  one  recorded  remark  of  the 
critic  Ruskin :  **You  know,"  says  he,  "that  to  be- 
stow alms  is  nothing  unless  you  bestow  thought  also; 
and  therefore  it  is  written,  not  *  Blessed  is  he  that 
fcedcth  the  poor,'  but  'blessed  is  he  that  consid- 
creth:  " 

But  what  did  our  Lord  do  for  that  multitude? 
Here  Mark's  record  comes  in  again.  "  He  began  to 
teach  them  many  things."  That  is  to  say,  he  gave 
up  his  ease  ;  he  relinquished  his  ineffably  welcome 
retirement  that  April  morning  ;  he  advanced  imme- 
diately to  offer  them  a  greeting,  as  if  he  had  been 
overjoyed  at  the  chance  of  a  new  audience.  There 
for  hours  stood  that  patient  Master  of  us  all,  telling 
them  of  his  Father's  love,  of  the  Messiah's  coming,  of 
the  ransom  paid  for  sinners,  of  the  great  life  by  faith, 
of  the  righteousness  like  a  wedding  garment,  and  the 
open  gate  of  heaven.  The  simple  story  of  the  cross 
was,  in  all  likelihood,  just  what  he  continued  to  repeat 
then  as  ever.  Away  over  the  world  ranged  his  im- 
agination to  find  what  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was 
like,  and  home  to  each  heart  came  the  tender,  wistful 
words  of  Him  whom  the  common  people  always 
heard  gladly,  because  he  suffered  together  with  all. 

Simon  Peter  learned  his  lesson  ;  his  epistles  are 
full  of  evidences   that  he  never  forjjot   this  forenoon 


SHEEP    WITHOUT   A    SHEniERD.  203 

in  the  mountain  of  Golan.  Here  is  the  unchanging 
errand  of  one  who  would  lift  the  masses  out  of  their 
degradation  and  sorrow.  Turn  directly  and  sympa- 
thetically toward  the  souls  which  are  standing  next 
to  us.  Treat  them  humanly,  *'  moved  with  compas- 
sion." Then  begin  to**  teach  them  many  things." 
In  the  whole  Bible  our  Lord  is  declared  to  have 
marveled  only  twice — once  at  the  centurion,  once  at 
the  Nazarenes;  once  at  great  faith,  and  once,  more 
than  ever,  at  the  great  lack  of  it. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   WALK    ON    THE    WATER. 

''  And  Peter  went  down  from  the  boat,  and  walked 
upon  the  waters,  to  come  to  Jesus.  But  when  he 
saw  the  wind  he  was  afraid  ;  and  beginning  to  sink, 
he  cried  out,  saying,   *  Lord,  save  me.'  " 

Among  the  ancient  Egyptians  the  symbol  of  im- 
possibility was  the  simple  figure  of  two  feet  planted 
upon  a  fragment  of  ocean.  Above  all  other  exploits, 
walking  on  water  seems  to  have  been  deemed  the 
one  thing  which  no  mortal  could  do.  With  instinctive 
sense  of  the  nature  of  the  act,  our  own  convictions 
fall  into  the  same  certainty.  It  is  only  God's  path 
which  is  ''  in  the  great  waters,  and  his  footsteps  are 
not  known."  What  startles  us,  therefore,  in  this  fa- 
miliar narrative  is  the  fact  that  a  human  being  is  out 
upon  the  waves,  and  the  fluid  floor  is  actually  be- 
coming firm  beneath  his  foothold.  A  fisherman  of 
Galilee  suddenly  forsakes  his  boat,  steps  unfalteringly 
over  the  side  of  it  when  the  crests  appear  running 
highest  along  the  ridge  of  the  billows,  and  moves  on 
across  the  lake  in  the  very  face  of  a  tempest  and  in 
the  violence  of  a  storm  ! 

The  way  in  which  this  came  about  is  worth  notic- 
ing. After  a  day  of  miracle,  employed  in  feeding 
some  five  thousand  people,  our  Saviour  had  urged 
his  reluctant  disciples  away  into  their  vessel,  and  had 
directed  them  to  proceed  before  him  to  the  western 
side  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias ;  then   he   quietly  turned 


THE   WALK   ON   THE   WATER.  20^ 

himself  to  dismiss  the  excited  multitudes,  and  went 
up  into  the  mountain  to  pray. 

Meantime  the  night  wore  on  into  tempestuous 
peril,  until  those  fishermen,  although  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  lake  in  all  its  most  fitful  moods, 
grew  fairly  frightened  with  its  heaving  and  uproar. 
Just  then  appeared  the  awful  and  majestic  figure  of 
Immanuel  walking  toward  them  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  treading  the  obedient  billows  under  his  feet. 
They  first  thought  it  was  a  spectre  they  saw,  and 
they  fell  into  superstitious  alarm  ;  but  a  single  word 
of  friendly  announcement  gave  them  reassurance: 
"It  is  I;  be  not  afraid."  Wonderful  spectacle  was 
that  which  they  now  beheld.  Jehovah  was,  indeed^ 
choosing  his  way  in  the  sea ;  he  was  making  dark- 
ness his  secret  place,  and  his  pavilion  round  about 
him  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 

In  this  sublime  instant  of  supreme  disclosure,  our 
impulsive  friend  Simon  Peter  rises  in  the  boat  to  put 
in  a  characteristic  appearance.  Remember  he  now 
makes  his  home  in  the  city  of  Capernaum.  He  has  mar- 
ried a  respectable  maiden  there.  Serious  illness  has 
occurred  just  lately  in  his  family.  His  mother-in-law 
has  been  very  sick  with  a  fever.  Jesus  healed  her  by 
miracle.  Peter  knew  all  about  the  sudden  cure. 
Sometime  previous  to  this,  too,  he  had  caught  a 
most  unprecedented  haul  of  fishes.  Indeed,  he  had 
witnessed  any  number  of  wonders  already  since  he 
began  to  know  Christ.  And  without  doubt  he  must 
have  learned  to  grow  somewhat  expectant  concern- 
ing his  divine  Lord ;    things  might  at  any   moment 


2o6  SIMON  peter: 

assume  a  marvelous  cast.  And  now,  when  he  recog- 
nizes the  infinite  kinghness  of  this  supreme  presenta- 
tion of  omnipotence,  when  he  perceives  the  form  of 
hght  shining  in  the  dark,  and  the  face  of  grandeur 
standing  serene  in  the  tempest,  he  suddenly  seems 
seized  with  the  impulsive  desire  to  have  for  himself 
some  conspicuous  share  in  the  show. 

It  is  not  v/orth  while  to  renew  this  scene  in  our 
remembrance  as  if  it  were  only  a  matchless  picture 
in  a  supernatural  drama.  Every  spectacle  in  Christ's 
life  is  a  sermon.  This  fragment  of  history  preaches 
an  evangehcal  discourse  on  the  subject  of  experi- 
mental faith  at  school.  And  we  shall  most  likely  do 
better  to  continue  our  study  of  it  with  a  slender  anal- 
ysis, constructed  out  of  the  discourse  rather  than  out 
of  the  history.  We  can  certainly  gather  all  the  inci- 
dents around  the  lessons  for  spiritual  instruction. 

For  example,  we  learn  this  earliest :  presumption 
is  the  usual  peril  of  an  untested  faith. 

Simon  Peter  was  always  trying  to  do  what  no  one 
else  thought  of  And,  this  time,  he  assuredly  ran 
before  he  was  sent.  The  moment  Jesus'  words  fell 
on  his  ear,  ''  It  is  I ;  be  not  afraid,"  Peter  answered 
him  and  said  :  *'  Lord,  if  it  be  thou,  bid  me  come 
unto  thee  on  the  water."  Here  we  may  note  the  in- 
timate mingling  of  an  earnest  confidence  with  a 
wretched  distrust  in  the  form  of  request. 

He  says,  ''  Bid  me  come,"  as  if  he  admitted  that 
Christ  held  a  peculiar  supremacy  of  command.  This 
disciple  saw  he  could  never  come,  and  ought  not  to 
seek  to   come,  unbidden.      But  he  illogically  adds, 


THE    WALK   ON   THE    WATER.  20/ 

"  If  it  be  thou,"  when  Jesus  had  just  said,  ^'  It  is  I." 
Simon  Peter  beheved,  but  not  much.  He  doubted 
also,  but  not  thoroughly.  That  is  to  say,  his  expe- 
rience appears  mixed,  and  certainly  is  faulty.  The  in- 
struction we  shall  receive  from  it  depends  upon  our 
being  able,  with  some  degree  of  inteUigence,  to  settle 
the  precise  reason  why  an  unasked  man  like  this  dis- 
ciple wished,  in  the  midst  of  storm,  darkness,  and 
peril,  to  leap  down  out  of  his  boat  upon  the  water, 
simply  because  he  saw  Christ  there. 

Possibly,  he  meant  to  pay  an  honest  tribute  to 
Jesus'  omnipotence,  and  to  do  him  an  unusual  honor. 
Perhaps  he  was  curious  just  to  see  how  such  a  won- 
derful feat  would  seem.  But  ai;!  easier  conjecture  is 
found  in  that  plain  personal  vanity,  for  which  in  this 
early  period  of  his  career  the  son  of  Jonas  was  re- 
markable. We  may  consent  charitably  to  consider 
that  he  was  unconscious  of  his  conceit.  But  the  art- 
lessness  of  his  self-esteem  in  thus  thrusting  his  weak 
personality  into  notice  is  almost  childish.  What 
could  he  possibly  want  to  go  off  upon  the  lake  for  ? 
He  appears  to  have  been  simply  arrested  with  a  silly 
gush  of  wishing  to  start  out  before  all  the  rest,  stand 
boldly  on  the  billows,  and  walk  tragically  in  towards 
his  audience  upon  the  perilously  tossing  stage. 

Let  us  pause  long  enough  to  lay  it  to  heart  that 
when  we  discover  men  and  women  attempting  un- 
heard-of and  indescribable  things,  querulous  and  dis- 
satisfied with  the  sober  round  of  grand,  every-day 
duty,  just  because  it  is  unromantic  and  tiresome,  we 
may  begin  openly  to  attribute  their  action  to  the  in- 


208  SIMON    PETER: 

experience  of  their  lives  or  the  mere  overweening  con- 
fidence of  their  characters.  We  may  watch  with  much 
sohcitude  for  their  downfall.  Peter  was  conspicuous 
in  this  exploit  for  his  leaping  overboard  at  his  own 
suggestion  ;  some  of  the  rest  remained  waiting  for 
their  Lord  to  speak.  His  summons  had  not  arrived 
for  the  exposure  ;  so  his  faith  was  presumptuous. 

One  wishes  with  all  his  heart  that  this  indiscreet 
disciple  had  kept  such  useless  courage  as  he  now 
wasted  for  the  necessitous  hour  in  Caiaphas'  palace, 
where  for  lack  of  it  he  fell  into  the  denial.  All  this 
impetuous  offer  of  dangerous  experiment  here  evi- 
denced only  rashness  and  merited  only  rebuke.  It  is 
as  much  a  true  Christian's  duty  to  spare  himself  from 
all  uncalled-for  danger  as  it  is  his  duty  to  surrender 
himself  to  commanded  risk  in  the  hour  when  God 
summons  him.  There  is  a  difference  between  faith 
and  forwardness.  Matthew  Henry,  with  his  accus- 
tomed bright  simplicity  of  expression,  says  :  ''  There 
is  an  over-doing  as  well  as  an  under-doing,  and  some- 
times such  an  over-doing  as  amounts  to  an  un- 
doing." 

But  the  story  moves  on,  and  we  may  learn,  in  the 
second  place,  that  experience  is  the  cure  of  a  pre- 
sumptuous faith. 

The  mood  of  mind  Simon  Peter  was  in  needed  a 
corrective  and  a  censure.  Jesus  chose  a  most  unique 
way  of  administering  them  both.  He  let  the  man 
have  his  own  wish.     *' And  he  said.  Come." 

It  needs  a  careful  discrimination  just  here  to  show 
precisely  what  our  Lord  pledged  in  this  acquiescence. 


THE    V/ALK    OX    THE    WATER.  209 

and  what  he  did  not.  The  reply  he  rendered  was  not 
by  any  means  parallel  nor  commensurate  with  the 
proposal  of  Simon.  For  Simon  had  asked,  "  Bid 
me."  But  Jesus  did  not  bid  him.  That  word 
'*  Come"  signifies  permission,  not  command.  Peter 
said:  '*  Bid  me  come  unto  thee."  Christ  told  him 
nothing  about  his  being  able  to  keep  his  foothold  so 
far  as  to  reach  his  side.  Further,  Peter  said  :  ''Bid 
me  come  unto  thee  on  the  water."  Jesus  intimated 
no  promise  that  the  water  should  continually  hold 
this  presumptuous  man  up  from  sinking.  Simple 
acquiescence  in  the  new  experiment  was  all  Simon 
Peter  got  that  day  ;  on  his  own  responsibility  he  took 
the  rest.  No  fresh  faith  was  granted  him.  He  was 
merely  suffered  to  have  his  own  way.  Our  Lord 
was  quite  aware  that  conceited  men  cannot  be  taught 
theoretically.  It  is  necessary  that  they  should  have 
experience  for  their  discipline. 

Choose  a  man  spiritually  inflated  and  proudly  self- 
confident,  sharply  criticising  the  faults  or  falls  of 
others.  Tell  him  to  be  charitable;  for  their  exposures 
of  temptation  are  heavier  than  any  human  nature  can 
bear.  Go  so  far  as  to  hint  to  him  that  he  could  do 
no  better  himself  And  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  will 
teach  you,  by  the  quiet  smile  of  derision  alert  upon 
his  face,  how  little  he  regards**a  warning  so  personal. 
Tell  him,  if  you  will,  in  dismay  at  such  inveterate 
presumption,  that  a  thousand  Christians  have  tried  in 
vain  to  stand  before  a  given  stress — an  appetite,  an 
amusement,  an  impulse,  or  a  vice — and  }'ou  only 
secure  from   him   the    impetuous    proposal:  ''Very 


2IO  SIMON   petek: 

well;  but  let  me  try  it."  Really  the  best  thing  to  do 
with  him  is  just  to  let  him  try  it,  when  it  can  be  at- 
tempted without  a  perilous  injury  to  other  interests. 
For  full  experience  is  the  quickest  corrective  and  the 
surest  cure  for  any  venturesome  faith  that  has  grown 
too  presuming  and  too  self-reliant. 

Easily,  then,  we  learn  another  lesson  from  the 
story.  Success  is  the  fine  reward  of  an  experienced 
faith. 

At  this  moment  we  may  well  consent  to  drop,  or 
at  least  delay,  our  censure  of  Simon  Peter.  For,  at 
the  worst,  he  proves  that  the  root  of  the  matter  is  in 
his  heart.  Grander  thing  no  man  ever  did  in  this 
old  world's  history  than  he  did  when  unhesitatingly 
he  followed  his  bold  word  with  his  brave  deed: 
**  And  when  Peter  was  come  down  out  of  the  ship  he 
walked  on  the  water  to  go  to  Jesus."  He  had  enough 
of  reliance  on  his  Master  to  obtain  and  fashion  a  foot- 
hold for  a  part  of  the  traverse.  He  did  walk  upon 
the  water.  And  as  long  as  his  faith  held  out  he 
accomplished  what  no  human  foresight  would  have 
pronounced  a  possible  thing  for  a  mortal  to  do. 

Our  Lord  once  said :  "  He  that  believeth  in  me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also."  Walking  on 
the  water  was  what  Jesus  was  doing  then  ;  and  Simon 
Peter,  for  one  swift,  exalted  moment,  was  doing  ex- 
actly that  also.  Our  inference  is  instantaneous  and 
irresistible  ;  faith  is  force ;  an  unbroken  faith  is  om- 
nipotent. For  faith  is  what  ''laughs  at  impossibility, 
and  says,  It  shall  be  done." 

Simon  did  not  go,  but  he  went  down  to  go ;  and 


THE  WALK  OX  THE  WATER.        211 

he  did  go  an  admirable  part  of  the  way  to  Jesus.  It 
was  his  trust  in  Jesus  for  even  that  exploit  which 
upheld  him.  The  motto  of  each  true  believer  might 
well  be  that  of  the  apostle:  "I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me."  Success 
rewards  real  reliance. 

But  what  was  all  this  for?  It  is  not  needful  to 
wonder  that  such  a  magnificent  miracle  was  wrought 
for  a  mere  trivial  end.  It  is  not  wise  to  call  this  end 
trivial.  For  our  Saviour  was  writing  gospel  history 
for  all  time  to  come.  Many  are  the  weary  workers 
of  this  world  to  whom  the  success  of  Peter,  even  so 
far  as  it  reached,  has  brought  courage  and  confirma- 
tion. Many  a  timid  faith  has  read  this  tale.  And 
then  brave  souls  without  number  have  gone  forth  to 
dare  greater  perils  still,  because  the  Master  has  said, 
*'  Come." 

Think  of  it ;  one  of  the  noblest  pictures  of  earth's 
history  is  that  of  this  Galilean  fisherman,  walking 
even  no  more  than  five  or  fifteen  steps  on  the  water. 
Curious  beyond  measure  it  seems  to  imagine  his  feel- 
ings. Once  out  upon  the  waves,  away  from  the 
boat,  the  vision  must  have  been  wild  and  terrific.  It 
was  near  midnight.  The  storm  of  wind  had  left  the 
sea  in  ridges.  Clouds  were  overhead  and  blasts 
roared  beneath,  tempests  whirling  the  spray  into  his 
face  ;  perhaps  white  gleams  of  the  passover  moon- 
light rushing  through  the  rifts  of  running  mist ;  the 
deep  moans  of  the  worried  lake,  now  partly  subdued 
to  such  unwiUing  service  as  lifting  the  touch  of  human 
feet.     Still,  forward  he  went  "  to  go  "  to  the  Redeem- 


212  SIMON   PETER: 

er's  side;  nothing  could  ever  daunt,  nothing  could 
ever  sink  the  faith  which  thus  continued  steadily 
"looking  off  unto  Jesus." 

Once  more  :  we  may  learn  from  this  scripture  that 
failure  is  the  discipline  of  even  a  successful  faith. 

It  is  no  trifling  thing  to  war  against  nature.  There 
is,  however,  lodged  among  the  ruins  of  this  constitu- 
tion of  ours,  now  and  then  a  mute  reminder  of  the 
human  race's  royalty  upon  this  planet  where  it 
dwells.  Will  can  fight  the  law  of  debasement  a  little 
moment,  once  in  a  while,  and  bright  intelligence 
rises  into  singular  and  inexplicable  regnancy  over 
even  the  heaviest  of  matter.  A  man  is  lighter  by 
weight  in  the  daytime  than  in  the  night.  With  ordi- 
nary wit  in  exercise,  he  moves  on  actually  the  kingly 
creature  amid  the  realms  of  natural  life.  One  can 
travel  farther  without  weariness  of  fatigue  if  only  in 
joyous  company.  High  exhilaration  will  brace  up 
worn-out  sinews.  Much  resoluteness,  a  fine  sense  of 
elation,  the  spring  and  rebound  of  great  bravery,  a 
good  measure  of  personal  upleaping  of  force,  the 
excitement  of  being  in  a  miracle,  combined  with 
some  genuine  faith  in  Christ,  kept  Simon  Peter  afloat 
on  his  feet  at  any  rate  for  one  splendid  moment  in 
the  sea ! 

Then  faith  yielded,  and  all  the  rest  went  for  noth- 
ing. Alas,  for  the  sense  of  Impotency  this  frightened 
man  must  have  had,  when  he  earliest  felt  himself 
wavering  down  into  and  among  the  waves  !  The  ap- 
palling turbulence  of  the  tempest,  the  tossing  of  the 
billows,  the  incessant  whisk  of  water  from  the  broken 


THE  WALK  ON  THE  WATER.         213 

torrents  around  him,  seem  to  have  unfixed  the  poise 
of  his  trust,  and  distracted  the  look  of  his  confidence 
at  once.  It  was  instantaneous,  hke  the  abrupt  sun- 
dering of  a  wire-connection  that  takes  the  attracting 
power  out  of  a  magnet ;  the  needle  of  his  faith  be- 
came a  piece  of  inert  iron. 

Perhaps,  when  he  had  got  on  so  far,  his  fear  abated, 
and  so  he  had  time  to  think  how  fine  a  thing  he  had 
done.  That  would  foster  vanity  enough  to  cut  him 
off.  Possibly  some  flash  of  imagination  turned  him 
back  on  himself,  and  it  may  have  occurred  to  him 
just  then  to  picture  how  he  looked  from  the  boat,  or 
to  wonder  if  those  others  were  still  watching  him,  or 
to  conjecture  whether  they  were  not  envying  his 
prowess  in  such  a  new  achievement  as  this.  At  all 
events,  the  record  reads :  "  But  when  he  saw  the 
wind  boisterous,  he  was  afraid  and  beginning  to 
sink."  After  a  single  grand  instant  of  success, 
granted  as  a  reward  for  his  measure  of  steady  faith, 
this  man  found  himself  left  to  endure  humiliating 
failure,  as  the  retribution  for  his  subsequent  measure 
of  unbelief 

It  is  never  any  new  burst  of  a  tempest,  nor  any 
fresh  revelations  of  dark  clouds,  which  causes  so 
many  of  us  venturesome  people  to  sink  our  successes 
in  ignominious  defeat.  It  is  simply  an  unwarrantable 
and  unnecessary  breaking  up  of  our  trust  in  the  Lord. 
While  Simon  Peter  unwaveringly  depended  on  Jesus, 
he  went  straight  along  toward  him.  The  moment  he 
let  his  thought  turn  he  was  gone.  While  he  said, 
"  I  will  walk  by  Christ,"  there  was  no  denying  it,  he 


214  SIMON  peter: 

did  walk.  But  when  he  began  to  whisper  to  himself, 
"  I  am  walking  on  the  water  ;  what  do  the  world  think 
of  me  ?"  there  was  no  denying  it,  he  went  under.  We 
cannot  possibly  be  mistaken  in  such  a  conclusion. 
For,  when  our  Lord  seizes  him  by  the  hand  to  save 
him,  there  is  full  explanation  in  the  rebuke  he  ad- 
ministers; Jesus  says  to  him,  "O  thou  of  little 
faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  ?" 

Hence,  finally,  we  may  learn  also  from  this  story 
that  quick  prayer  for  help  is  the  relief  for  a  failing 
faith. 

*'  He  cried.  Lord,  save  me  !  "  The  one  admirable 
feature  in  Simon's  behavior  that  eventful  day  was 
found  in  his  seeking  for  succor  at  the  right  source. 
He  still  turned  to  Jesus  for  help.  When  he  felt 
himself  going  under  the  water,  we  should  say  that, 
like  any  other  fisherman,  he  would  instantly  have 
taken  to  swimming,  or  called  for  relief  from  the 
comrades  in  the  boat.  But  it  is  likely  we  are  all 
ready  to  admit  we  do  not  know  what  would  have 
become  of  him  if  he  had  turned  his  back  on  Christ 
at  such  a  juncture,  or  attempted  to  shirk  for  him- 
self in  the  midst  of  the  peril. 

There  is  often  as  much  wit  and  wisdom  employed 
in  the  retrieval  of  any  vast  misfortune  as  is  needed  for 
ordinary  success  in  adventure.  A  wild  life  Peter  had 
been  leading  on  that  lake ;  he  was  an  experienced 
swimmer,  for  we  read  in  another  chapter  that  he 
plunged  swiftly  into  the  sea  once,  and  went  faster 
to  shore  than  the  boat  did.  It  is  wonderfully  wel- 
come to  find  him  gathering  up  his  energies  here,  not 


THE   WALK   ON   THE   WATER.  21 5 

of  skill  but  of  faith,  for  his  extrication.  He  will  be 
rescued  by  Jesus,  or  not  at  all.  And  before  we  pro- 
nounce harshly  upon  his  undoubted  failure,  it  does 
seem  just  fair  to  remember  how  nobly  he  accepted 
his  discipline,  and  educated  his  faith  back  to  a  new 
hold. 

Of  course,  the  immediate  application  of  all  this  is 
to  every  man's  own  wild  fluctuations  of  feeling  in 
periods  of  perplexity  or  doubt.  Perhaps  our  minds 
are  benumbed  with  a  chill  of  subtle  arguments, 
or  our  hearts  grow  tremulous  under  trial.  We 
push  on,  but  we  observe  our  souls  are  sinking 
in  humiliating  failure.  And  then  we  fall  to  thinking 
of  the  failure,  and  the  disastrous  results  coming  after 
failure.  Hence,  things  grow  rapidly  worse;  for  the 
more  a  failing  faith  thinks  of  its  failing — indeed,  the  ^ 

more  it  thinks  of  anything  except  Jesus  Christ  the 
Lord,  and  how  it  shall  get  closer  and  stay  nearer  to 
him — the  more  certain  it  is  that  the  timid  soul  will  be 
lost  at  the  last.     For  nothing  can  be  truer  than  this : 

**  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not; 
and  it  shall  be  given  to  him.  But  let  him  ask  in  faith, 
nothing  wavering :  for  he  that  wavereth  is  like  a 
wave  of  the  sea  driven  with  the  wind  and  tossed. 
For  let  not  that  man  think  he  shall  receive  anything 
of  the  Lord." 

Faith,  to  be  trustworthy  and  available,  must  never 

lose  heart.      That  omnipotence,  which    can    confirm 

one  step  of  ours  upon  a  watery  floor,  can    certainly 

compact    the    waves    like    rock    beneath    our    tread 
10 


2l6  SLMOX    PETER: 

through  the  whole  traverse   of  duty,  If  only  trust  is 
held  steady. 

Simon  Peter  failed  In  order  to  show  the  essential 
and  necessary  weakness  of  one  who  has  lost  his 
union  with  his  Saviour,  and  the  certain  sinking  of 
one  who  has  looked  at  the  troubles  which  beset  him, 
when  he  should  have  kept  looking  only  unto  Christ. 

Simon  Peter  failed  that  he  might  teach  us  all  along 
the  ages  how  very  quick  Is  the  reversal  of  failure 
into  success  again,  when  our  wandering  eyes  return 
from  their  wavering  to  their  allegiance,  from  their 
outlook  of  apprehension  to  their  serenity  of  trust.  Is 
It  possible  that  any  man  on  earth  could  have  a  better 
tale  told  of  him  than  this  :  *'  Beginning  to  sink,  he 
cried.  Lord,  save  me  !  " 

How  pleasantly  the  record  closes  as  the  incident 
reaches  its  end  :  *'  Immediately  Jesus  stretched  forth 
his  hand  and  caught  him."  And  probably  he  did  not 
let  go  of  him  again  after  that.  We  can  easily  be 
persuaded  that  this  disciple  was  quite  satisfied  with 
such  a  termination  of  his  adventure.  For  the  Lord 
offered  him  the  privilege  of  walking  on  the  sea  the 
second  time,  and  now  he  walked  perfectly  safely. 
That  seems  to  be  the  only  way  he  could  get  back  to 
the  boat — ^he  trod  the  billows  upright  at  last, 
alongside  of  Jesus ;  and  the  most  wonderful 
picture  in  the  world  would  be  that  which  would 
fittingly  portray  the  scene,  the  Master  and 
the  man,  hand-in-hand,  stepping  on  together  over 
the  living  crests  of  a  willing  Gennesaret,  which  in  the 
hour  of  subjection  knew  its  Lord  ! 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    GREAT    CONFESSION. 

The  next  day  after  the  walk  on  the  water,  Simon 
Peter,  in  company  with  the  rest,  and  attended  by  a 
large  throng  of  the  impetuous  residents  of  Caper- 
naum, Hstened  to  the  discourse  which  was  destined 
to  divide  the  people  more  than  anything  Christ  had 
ever  preached  before.  Even  some  of  those  who  had 
seemed  ready  to  become  his  firm  adherents  forsook 
him  from  that  time.  For  the  doctrine  he  disclosed 
was  not  only  unusually  mysterious  in  its  form  of 
expression,  but  It  was  also  repugnant  in  its  suggestion 
to  every  unrenewed  heart.  He  had  risen  in  his 
teachings  step  by  step,  until  he  now  told  every  man 
that  his  case  was  inevitably  hopeless  unless  he  was 
willing  to  accept  an  atonement  wrought  out  for  him 
by  another.  He  must  renounce  himself,  and  be  content 
to  be  saved  by  a  transfer  of  personality  so  thorough 
that  it  amounted  to  losing  his  identity  in  a  Saviour 
provided.  Precisely  what  he  said  was  this:  "lam 
the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven :  if 
any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever :  and 
the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will 
give  for  the  life  of  the  world.  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you. 
Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood, 
hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day."  Of  course,  ordinary  people  were  stumbled, 
and  refused  to  follow  a  leader  whom  they  considered 


2i8  SIMON  peter: 

mystic  and  absurd ;  and  so  there  came  coolness  and 
an  evident  wane  of  his  popularity,  which  began  to 
affect  his  nearest  adherents.  The  tone  of  the  narra- 
tive seems  to  sadden  a  little.  ''Then  said  Jesus  unto 
the  twelve,  Will  ye  also  go  away?"  It  was  at  this 
time  that  the  early  reply  was  made  which  has  in  all 
the  ages  shown  that  in  the  disciple,  understood  to  be 
the  most  impulsive,  there  was  a  residue  of  great  and 
generous  force  :  "  Then  Simon  Peter  answered  him. 
Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life.  And  we  believe  and  are  sure  that  thou 
art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

We  attach  much  importance  to  this  first  confession 
of  Jesus  as  the  divine  Redeemer ;  but  the  necessities 
of  this  series  of  biographical  incidents  require  that 
we  rapidly  place  beside  it  another  very  much  re- 
sembling it,  and  yet  in  some  points  altogether 
transcending  it.  And  we  may  as  well  say  now  that 
it  is  possible  that  the  difference  between  these  two 
creeds  of  confession  turns  upon  the  fact  that,  by  this 
time,  Peter  had  got  so  far  on  in  the  divine  life  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  making  personal  revelations  to 
his  soul,  was  settling  his  convictions,  was  offering 
positively  new  information,  and  was  realizing  to  him 
what  he  already  intelligently  knew.  And  moreover, 
the  one  bold,  strong  confession  opened  the  way  to 
another  bolder  and  stronger  still.  In  the  last  in- 
stance, we  shall  meet  a  commendation  so  extraordinary 
that  it  sounds  like  one  of  the  Beatitudes  from  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It  may  have  been  the  prompt- 
ness,  the   heartiness,  the  deepened  reach  of  Peter's 


THE    GREAT    CONFESSION.  219 

belief,  which  Jesus  now  approved.  For  on  the 
second  occasion  Peter  spoke  as  taught  by  God  him- 
self;  Christ  plainly  told  him  that. 

Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  there  is  one 
period  in  the  life  of  each  true  believer  when  the  Spirit 
of  God  begins  to  let  in  an  unusual  flood  of  new 
knowledge  upon  his  present  experiences  ;  knowledge 
of  truth  which  in  its  relations  and  majesty  it  is  his 
personal  and  official  prerogative  to  bestow.  This  is 
the  teaching  of  the  inspired  apostle  spoken  long 
afterwards :  "  For  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to 
give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  story  of  the  second  confession  takes  us  quite 
away  from  our  familiar  neighborhoods,  and  summons 
us  outside  of  Galilee.  Clear  up  on  the  northern 
boundary  of  that  province  once  stood  a  little  town, 
to  which  the  ancients  gave  the  name  of  Banias,  in- 
significant in  everything  except  in  the  beauty  of  its 
situation.  It  lay  very  close  to  some  copious  springs, 
out  of  the  waters  of  which,  flowing  cool  and  crystal 
down  the  slopes  of  Lebanon,  the  river  Jordan  takes 
its  rise.  Philip,  the  tetrarch,  adorned  and  enlarged 
the  town  at  great  cost ;  and  he  called  it  Caesarea- 
Philippi,  in  honor  of  Tiberius,  then  the  Caesar  at 
Rome,  adding,  however,  his  own  cognomen  in  order 
to  distinguish  it  from  another  Caesarea,  lying  down 
by  the  Great  Sea,  a  city  of  much  celebrity  in  the 
earlier  history,  and  for  a  conspicuous  period  of  years 
the  metropolis  of  Palestine. 


220  SIMON    peter: 

To  this  spot  once  came  our  divine  Lord  with  his 
disciples.  Possibly,  he  Vv-as  withdrawing  himself  for 
rest,  seeking  retirement  from  the  trying  throngs  that 
pressed  him.  At  this  place  there  occurred  an  un- 
usually important  conversation,  so  far  as  ecclesiastical 
history  is  concerned ;  for  it  has  been  the  polemic 
battle-ground  of  the  ages.  Here  was  spoken  that 
second  wonderful  confession  of  Simon  Peter  which 
has  rendered  the  locality  famous.  Grand  as  that 
old  cliff  is,  it  will  crumble  into  its  native  dust  and  be 
forgotten  long  before  the  speech  of  one  mere  Gahlean 
fisherman,  made  at  its  base,  will  have  ceased 
to  be  discussed.  To  Simon  Peter  was  granted  the 
answer  to  Job's  ancient  prayer :  ''  Oh,  that  my 
words  were  now  written  !  oh,  that  they  were  printed 
in  a  book !  that  they  were  graven  with  an  iron  pen 
and  lead  in  the  rock  for  ever  ! " 

Further :  it  so  happens  that  In  the  course  of  the 
narrative  are  found  certain  forms  of  expression  used 
by  our  Saviour,  which  receive  their  explanation 
from  certain  unusual  conformations  of  landscape  and 
local  surroundings  that  appear  to  have  given  fashion 
to  the  extraordinarily  forcible  figure  he  used. 

The  ancient  Greeks  had  a  deity  called  Pan.  They 
associated  with  his  worship  retired  caverns  or  grottos, 
as  most  appropriate  for  his  chosen  place  of  abode,  and 
as  furnishing  their  own  fittest  resort  for  assembling. 
One  of  these  sylvan  shrines  is  known  to  have  lain  at 
the  base  of  Mount  Hermon.  There,  even  at  the 
present  day,  is  disclosed  a  vast  and  magnificent  cave, 
hollowed  in  a  hill-side  of  stone.     Oak  groves  are  all 


THE    GREAT    CONFESSION.  221 

around  It,  of  splendidly  developed  growth  and  age. 
There  used  to  be  an  elegant  city  almost  within  reach  ; 
this  they  called  '*  Panium,"  after  the  name  of  Pan. 

Suggestive  ruins  are  lying  there  now,  shapeless 
and  overgrown  with  briers.  But  the  most  notice- 
able thing  in  the  vicinity  is  one  mighty  cliff  of  bare 
rock,  stretching  up  above  the  cave  a  thousand 
feet  of  sheer  precipice — a  perpendicular  of  red  lime- 
stone, like  the  wall  of  a  Titan's  castle.  Inscriptions 
cut  on  the  surface  claim  to  perpetuate  a  hundred  by- 
gone traditions.  Legends  without  limit  of  number 
or  exaggeration  surround  the  spot.  Eusebius  grows 
briskly  eloquent,  and  Josephus  becomes  insufferably 
tedious,  with  laborious  effort  to  rehearse  them. 

As  the  dynasties  rose  and  fell,  one  town  after  an- 
other sprang  up  on  the  plain  beneath ;  first,  Panium, 
then  Banias,  and  then  Caesarea-Philippi,  where  we 
meet  our  Lord  with  his  disciples  on  the  occasion  of 
Simon  Peter's  great  confession  of  faith. 

Beautiful,  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  in  all  north- 
ern Palestine,  is  this  famous  neighborhood.  Under- 
neath the  cavern  is  gathered  a  volume  of  water  that 
finally,  after  cooling  itself  in  the  dark  abodes  of  its 
birth,  rushes  out  in  a  delightfully  clear  stream,  fully 
a  hundred  feet  broad,  dashing  down  the  rugged  rocks 
in  rapid  and  musical  currents,  drenching  the  hot  air 
with  freshness,  and  ravishing  a  traveler's  eye  with 
sensuous  play  of  foam  and  leaping  of  cascades.  The 
whole  region  is  fragrantly  strewn  with  flowers,  lying 
among  an  exquisite  mingling  of  sunshines  and 
shadows  cast  by  the  ilexes  and   olives.     It  is  often 


222  SIMON    PETER  : 

called  "the  Tivoli  of  Syrian  landscape,"  one  of  those 
attractive  scenes  which  an  artist  hastens  to  visit,  when 
he  would  renew  his  portfolio  with  the  loveliest 
sketches  of  unfamiliar  beauty  from  the  Orient. 

"  When  Jesus  came  into  the  coasts  of  Caesarea- 
Philippi,  he  asked  his  disciples,  saying,  Whom  do 
men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?  And  they  said, 
Some  say  that  thou  art  John  the  Baptist;  some 
Elias ;  and  others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets." 

Luke  informs  us  that  when  this  famous  conversa- 
tion took  place  Jesus  had  just  been  alone  praying; 
and  Mark  adds  that  it  occurred  *'by  the  way."  In 
all  likelihood,  this  was  one  of  those  interesting  road- 
side discourses  with  which  Christ  was  accustomed  to 
enrich  his  companionship,  as  he  moved  on  with  that 
familiar  group  of  intimates  which  followed  him.  For 
order  in  our  present  study,  the  particulars  of  de- 
scription are  easily  arranged  around  two  points; 
namely,  the  creed  this  disciple  professed,  and  the 
credit  he  got  by  it. 

It  is  evident,  from  the  history,  that  our  Lord  de- 
sired to  awaken  some  sort  of  anxiety  in  the  minds  of 
his  followers,  and  to  excite  their  feelings  of  loyalty 
to  truth,  and  to  himself,  so  that  they  might  be  upon 
theirguard  against  disaffectionunderany  popular  pres- 
sure, or  any  wild  popular  perversions  of  his  charac- 
ter or  mission. 

So,  coming  forth  quietly  from  his  usual  devotions 
in  the  mountain,  and  joining  his  company,  he  abrupt- 
ly put  to  them  the  question,  "  Whom  do  men  say 
that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?"     They  made  no  hesi- 


THE   GREAT   CONFESSION.  223 

tation  in  their  reply.  Frankly  they  proceeded  to 
rehearse  the  views  which  they  had  heard  expressed 
in  one  way  and  another  throughout  their  journeys. 
A  portion  of  the  reports  among  the  crowds  they 
could  easily  remember. 

They  informed  him  that  an  uneasy  few,  with  Herod 
at  the  head  of  them,  said  he  was  a  resuscitation  of 
John  the  Baptist.  Even  at  that  early  day,  it  is  possi- 
ble that  some  held  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  of 
souls.  The  notion  was  prevalent,  borrowed  from 
heathen  philosophy,  that  those  who  as  martyrs  suf- 
fered for  religious  behefs  would  be  allowed  to  come 
to  the  upper  world  again  ;  at  any  rate,  they  would 
arise  from  the  dead  before  the  rest.  Hence,  the  dis- 
ciples also  told  Jesus  that  there  were  others  who  be- 
lieved him  to  be  one  who  was  inhabited  by  the  soul 
of  Elijah.  This  Old  Testament  prophet  had  not 
died,  but  was  translated  into  heaven ;  and  Malachi, 
the  latest  seer  Avho  had  declared  a  message  from 
God,  had  left  on  record  an  obscure  intimation  that 
he  would  actually  return  some  time.  Then,  further, 
one  of  this  company,  possibly  Matthew,  for  he  alone 
records  the  rumor,  mentioned  that  some  thought 
Jesus  was  Jeremiah. 

Apparently  the  talk  now  became  desultory,  for 
the  suggestion  fell  away  into  a  mere  grouping  to- 
gether of  all  the  weaker  stories  or  more  foolish  tradi- 
tions they  had  caught  as  to  our  Lord's  being  *'  one 
of  the  prophets."  One  thing  is  observable  in  these 
reports ;  however  the  opinions  differed,  and  however 
extravagantly  wide  of  the  real  truth  they  all  were, 


224  SIMON    PETER  : 

they  were  honorable  testimonials  to  the  dignity  of 
Jesus.  For  these  gossipers  in  the  streets  had  has- 
tened to  give  him  the  best  names  they  had,  and  they 
unhesitatingly  reckoned  him  among  the  epoch-lead- 
ers of  the  age.  This  would  prove  that  the  common 
people,  who  originally  heard  him' gladly,  had  not  yet 
altogether  forsaken  his  cause,  nor  turned  away  from 
his  teaching.  Still,  as  we  note  that  in  all  these  con- 
jectures there  was  not  found  one  clear  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  messiahship  of  Jesus,  we  are  forced  to 
confess  that  the  obstinate  denials  of  the  rulers  and 
the  violent  denunciations  of  the  interested  placemen, 
as  well  as  the  sophistical  arguments  of  the  multiplied 
sects,  had  fatally  demoralized  the  entire  nation,  and 
blinded  their  eyes  to  the  awful  risks  they  were  run- 
ning in  their  rejection  of  the  Lord  of  glory. 

Now  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  Jesus  was  igno- 
rant as  to  this.  He  must  have  known  what  were  the 
opinions  abroad,  and  how  much  confidence  in  them 
his  followers  were  wont  to  place.  But  he  seems  to 
wish  a  full  expression  of  their  thoughts  in  the  midst 
of  such  confusion.  His  aim  appears  to  have  been  to 
lead  them  to  declare  what,  in  their  own  judgment, 
had  been  the  impression  thus  far  of  these  two  years' 
ministry.  What  did  they  conclude  people  at  large 
had  already  come  to  think  of  his  person  and  his 
office  as  God's  messenger  to  men  ? 

Jesus  seems  to  have  manifested  no  surprise,  and 
exhibited  no  mortification,  when  he  received  so  dis- 
couraging an  account  of  what  his  disciples  had 
heard.      He  had,  however,  a  deeper  concern  than 


THE    GREAT    CONFESSIOX.  22 5 

this.  It  mattered  little,  comparatively,  what  the  un- 
taught populace  in  Palestine  thought  of  him  ;  it  mat- 
tered more  what  those  who  followed  him  believed. 
So  he  turned  his  question  directly  upon  the  disci- 
ples: ^'  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  "  Among  that 
band  of  adherents  there  was  only  one  man  of  whom 
an  immediate  answer  was  to  be  expected :  *'  And 
Simon  Peter  answered  and  said.  Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

This,  then,  was  the  great  confession  of  faith,  which 
has  come  down  to  us  through  the  ages.  It  was  the 
creed  that  Peter  boldly  proffered  ;  we  are  now  ready 
to  consider  the  credit  he  got  for  it.  It  need  not  be 
any  surprise  to  us  that  he  received  from  our  Lord 
himself  instantly  an  honorable  approval  of  his  InteUI- 
gence  and  courage.  More  welcome  word  than  that, 
which  it  was  his  high  privilege  to  hear  from  the  Master 
then,  was  never  spoken  from  heaven  to  earth  :  ''  And 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Bar-jona:  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed 
it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 

We  have  already  learned  that  Bar  means  son ; 
hence,  '^  Simon  Bar-Jona  "  signifies  S07i  of  JojiaSy  a 
name  pronounced  here  as  an  exact  antithesis  and 
answer  to  the  new  name  v/hich  this  disciple  applied 
just  now  to  Jesus,  "Son  of  God."  When  our  Lord 
told  Peter  that  "  flesh  and  blood"  had  not  revealed 
such  a  measure  of  truth  to  him,  it  becomes  quite  clear 
that  he  intended  to  say  that  intelligence  like  this  did 
not  come  from  any  mere  insight  of  human  penetra- 
tion, nor  from  any  degree  of  sagacity  or  worldly  wis- 


226  SIMON   PETER  : 

dom  ;  it  must  have  been  given  directly  by  inspiration 
from  God  himself.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  there 
are  great  and  valuable  lessons  for  us  to  learn  from 
this  whole  conversation. 

First,  it  will  follow  from  a  story  like  this,  that  it  is 
of  vast  consequence  zuJiat  a  man  believes^  and  all 
the  more  if  he  be  sincere  in  his  creed.  For  it  is 
likely  one  may  seek  in  vain  through  the  entire  New 
Testament,  and  he  will  not  discover  anywhere  another 
man  than  Simon  Peter  ever  called  "  blessed  "  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  Galilean  disciple  received  a 
wonderful  honor  merely  because  he  accepted  as  re- 
vealed from  on  high  the  whole  story  of  the  cross,  the 
work  and  the  nature,  the  heavenly  divinity  and  the 
earthly  mastership,  of  the  Messiah. 

We  learn  also  that  it  is  not  enough  to  admit  the 
bare  record^  and  so  simply  consent  to  an  historic 
Christ.  It  is  not  enough  to  whisper,  *' Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth must  have  been  a  divine  person,"  and  then  drop 
hushed  into  a  great,  deep,  devout,  mystical  wonder 
about  him.  Nor  is  it  enough  to  cherish  a  sweet 
poetic  sentiment  as  to  the  beauty  of  his  character  and 
the  pure  loveliness  of  his  weary  life.  For  if  this 
Galilean  rabbi  was  anything,  he  was  our  God — Jeho- 
vah manifest  in  the  flesh.  If  he  came  to  this  world 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  it  was  to  make  an  atone- 
ment for  sin.  And  unless  he  is  received  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  offices  as  prophet,  priest,  and  king,  he  is  not 
received  in  any  such  way  as  brings  the  word,  "  Blessed 
art  thou!'* 

Again,  to  a  human  soul  struggling  for  its  immortal 


THE   GREAT    CONFESSION.  22/ 

life,  Jesus  the  Saviour  is  everything  at  oftee,  or  he  is 
nothing  forever.  In  that  old  day  of  Simon  Peter, 
it  was  hard  to  get  at  the  exact  truth.  But  what  was 
perhaps  a  special  and  miraculous  disclosure  to  him 
Is  at  this  later  date  a  commonplace  and  everyday  ex- 
perience to  us.  Each  increment  of  our  growing  know- 
ledge in  a  sense  comes  new,  as  it  did  to  him,  by  rev- 
elation of  the  Spirit  of  divine  grace  :  **  But  the  mani- 
festation of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit 
withal" 

Furthermore:  can  we  not  see  from  a  story  like 
this  hozv  far  the  opinions  of  others  are  to  be  consid- 
ercdy  when  we  are  making  up  our  OAvn  minds? 
What  If  men  do  differ?  What  If  the  community 
is  full  of  wandering  surmises  ?  Truth  is  inde- 
pendent of  mere  popular  applause  or  conjecture. 
There  are  some  things  about  which  conscientious 
and  responsible  human  beings  are  not  permitted 
to  yield  to  mere  epidemic  prejudice.  And,  cer- 
tainly, what  flesh  and  blood  cannot  reveal,  flesh 
and  blood  are  not  competent  in  any  possible  form  to 
pass  upon  for  others.  "W^hat  if  some  did  not 
believe?"  They  must  be  left  to  disbelieve,  then, 
and  take  their  own  chances.  "  Shall  that  make  the 
promises  of  God  of  none  effect?"  At  least  three 
things  there  are  in  the  New  Testament,  it  would  ap- 
pear, which  are  not  in  the  area  of  charitable  toler- 
ance. We  do  not  see  where  a  man  is  to  go  vvho 
cannot  agree  with  Simon  Peter  here  in  this  notable 
assertion  of  his  creed :  Jehovah  is  supreme,  and 
Christ  is  absolutely  God,  and  Jesus  Is  the  Christ.  This 


228  SIMON  peter: 

is  what  the  brave  man  from  Bethsaida  said  there  at 
C^sarea,  and  his  Lord  pronounced  him  ''blessed." 
What  would  the  Almighty  himself  say  about  one  who 
differed  with  him  then  ? 

Finally,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  tJie  one  question 
above  all  other  qj  test  ions  of  the  present  day  is  this  : 
"Whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?"  Here  Christ  is,  in  the 
world,  a  factor  in  history,  an  influence  among 
men.  Some  disposal  is  to  be  made  of  the  words  he 
has  spoken  and  the  force  he  exerts.  ''What  think 
ye  of  Christ  ?  "  It  is  an  individual  question  ;  each  of 
us  must  deal  with  it.  But  he  only  will  be  "  blessed" 
of  the  Lord  who  answers  it  as  this  disciple  answered 
it,  when,  out  of  his  exultant  and  obedient  heart,  he 
exclaimed  :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE  GIFT  OF  THE    KEYS. 


After  the  extraordinary  encomium  of  benediction 
had  been  pronounced  upon  Simon  Bar-jona  for  his 
confession  of  Jesus'  divinity  and  messiahship,  there 
followed  a  commission  to  his  life-work,  given  him  on 
the  spot.  So  remarkable  were  the  words  which  our 
Lord  employed  that  it  is  best  to  quote  the  record  in 
full: 

''  And  I  say  also  unto  thee,  that  thou  art 
Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church ; 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  And 
I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 

The  name  Peter  means  a  rock.  There  is  in  this 
sentence  a  play  on  words,  needing  in  order  to  be  seen 
plainlyalanguageresemblingthe  Aramaic,  which  Jesus 
sometimes  used.  The  French  catches  it  in  the  render- 
ing of  the  verse  Pierre— pierre  :  "Thou  art  a  rock,  and 
on  this  rock."  It  does  not  seem  worth  while  to  delay 
ourselves  with  that  pretty  theory  concerning  the  dif- 
ference in  grammatical  gender  between  the  name  of  the 
disciple  and  that  of  the  object  chosen  for  the  rhetori- 
cal comparison  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sentence, 
whatever  it  was.  It  is  true  of  the  terms  that  in  the 
Greek  one  is  mascuhne  and  the  other  is  feminine; 
but  Jesus  may  have  been  talking  Aramaic;  and 
there  is  in  that  language  no  distinction.     It  has  only 


230  SIMON   PETER  : 

a  single  word  for  stone,  and  that  is  the  word  ccpkas, 
which  might  have  been  used  in  this  instance,  and  so 
have  become  long  afterward  the  name  by  which  Peter 
is  sometimes  called  in  the  Epistles. 

Here  occurs,  for  the  first  time  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  word  cJiinxh.  Literally,  it  signifies,  "■  the 
called  ones,"  the  elect  of  God,  the  entire  body  of  be- 
lievers on  the  earth.  When  Jesus  says  "the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,"  he  uses  2^  gate  as  a 
symbol  of  power.  That  is  an  old  and  familiar  form 
of  speech  in  oriental  countries,  where  the  capital 
cities  were  generally  surrounded  with  walls.  Even 
now  we  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  Siibliine 
Porte  as  the  gate,  or  the  center  of  authority,  in  the 
Ottoman  Empire.  The  Saviour  intends  to  proclaim 
that  the  church  is  eternally  safe  ;  all  machinations  of 
infernal  malignity  put  forth  by  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness will  prove  futile  ;  nothing  can  ever  be  permitted 
to  harm  those  whom  the  Almighty  chooses  and 
groups  into  an  organization  for  his  work. 

So  far  the  interpretation  of  this  passage  is  quite 
easy.  But  we  now  reach  those  remarkable  words 
concerning  the  power  of  the  keys,  which  have  in 
the  ages  gone  by  made  this  part  of  the  inspired 
record  the  Waterloo  of  ecclesiastical  history. 

The  mighty  question  which  now  agitates  and 
divides  Christendom  is  just  this :  What  is  intended 
by  the  "rock"?  And  who  was  it,  if  anybody,  to 
whom  supremacy  was  given  by  the  declaration 
of  our  Lord  ?  To  all  this  there  is  to  be  given  an 
answer,  which  is  likely  to  be   received  as   final,  ac- 


THE    GIFT   OF   THE    KEYS.  231 

cording  to  our  previous  education  and  training  in  the 
truth. 

The  adherents  of  the  Church  of  Rome  reply  that 
Simon  Peter  personally  was  made  by  these  words 
primate  in  all  ecclesiastical  organization  and  power 
on  the  earth,  and  that  for  all  future  time.  They  say  he 
was  the  first  in  an  unbroken  series  of  popes,  the  con- 
tinuous line  and  official  succession  of  which  has  re- 
mained perfect  even  to  the  present  generation.  To 
him,  they  insist,  were  given  the  keys  of  all  exclusion, 
and  the  plenitude  of  all  power,  till  the  end  of  the 
world.  And  they  claim  now  that  he  had,  and  after 
him  his  successors  have  had  and  do  have,  the  rule  of 
the  race,  men  and  kingdoms  ahke,  as  if  a  true  and  per- 
manent vice-regency  of  Almighty  God  had  been  estab- 
lished in  him  and  in  those  who  came  after  him.  Since 
the  decision  of  a  late  so-called  council,  the  popes  are 
held  to  be  infallible,  and  always  supreme,  by  reason  of 
the  transmitted  commission  and  supremacy  of  Simon 
Peter,  delivered  to  the  old  fisherman  of  Bethsaida 
there  by  the  side  of  the  cliff  in  Caesarea-Philippi. 

Lest  these  statements  should  be  doubted,  it  is  well 
enough  to  quote  a  single  deliverance  of  the  papal 
hierarchy  which  Is  a  part  of  the  common  history  of 
the  world.  It  is  the  Bull  of  Pius  V.,  and  is  entitled 
"The  Damnation  and  Excommunication  of  Elizabeth, 
Queen  of  England,  and  Her  Adherents,  with  an  Ad- 
dition of  Other  Punishments."  In  the  body  of  it 
occur  these  two  sentences,  which  are  all  we  need 
for  our  present  purpose : 

**  He  that  reigneth  on  high,  to  whom  is  given  all 


232  SIMON    PETER: 

power  in  heaven  and  In  earth,  committed  one  Holy 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  (out  of  which  there  is 
no  salvation)  to  one  alone  upon  earth,  namely,  to  Peter, 
the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  and  to  Peter's  successor, 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  to  be  governed  In  fulness  of  pow- 
er. Him  alone  he  made  Prince  over  all  people  and 
all  kingdoms,  to  pluck  up,  destroy,  scatter,  con- 
sume, plant,  and  build." 

Such  an  Interpretation  of  this  part  of  Matthew's 
gospel,  it  hardly  needs  to  be  said.  Is  rejected  by 
Protestants  the  world  over.  In  every  measure  and  de- 
gree. We  cut  the  chain  of  links  off  close  up  to  the 
staple  from  which  It  hangs;  we  say  there  is  not  the 
least  ground  for  an  assertion  that  anything  of  this 
sort  whatsoever  was  bestowed  upon  this  Simon,  son 
of  Jonas,  then  or  ever  afterwards;  and  that  no  allu- 
sion whatsoever  was  made  to  any  possible  successors, 
or  to  any  claims  they  might  set  up.  This  disciple 
was  not  made  supreme  pontiff  In  any  conceivable 
sense.  Whatever  power  was  symbolized  by  the 
offer  of  what  are  here  denominated  *'  the  keys,"  was, 
in  another  conversation,  given,  In  exactly  the  same 
terms,  to  all  the  rest  of  the  twelve ;  and  nothing  was 
said  about  any  successors  to  them  either.  And  as 
to  personal  steadfastness,  not  even  Peter's  best  friend 
would  do  his  memory  any  favor  by  calling  attention 
to  the  un-rock-like  career  he  left  behind  him  In  the 
Scripture  history.  A  church  that,  in  such  a  period 
as  that  was,  had  no  foundation  more  stable  than  Si- 
mon Peter  to  stand  upon  would  have  gone  into  ruins 
under  his  pitiful   denial  of  his   Lord   before   he   was 


THE   GIFT   OF   THE    KEYS.  233 

dead.  If  any  one  desires  to  fashion  a  picture  of  this 
"first  pope,"  the  predecessor  of  that  Pius  who  wrote 
such  impudent  and  blasphemous  words  concernlnfj 
the  Queen  of  England,  let  him  take  the  moment 
w^hen,  just  outside  the  gate  of  the  high  priest's  pal- 
ace, he  stands  weeping  over  his  awful  defection,  and 
the  crowing  of  a  cock  disturbs  his  soul  a  hundred- 
fold depths  deeper  than  the  Bull  did  that  of  Elizabeth 
Plantagenet,  the  daughter  of  Henry  VIII. 

Singularly  enough,  in  the  gospel  of  the  evangelist 
Mark,  that  one  in  particular  which  Peter  is  always 
credited  with  having  supervised,  no  mention  whatso- 
ever is  made  of  this  commission  in  its  terms  or  in  its 
implications.  The  journey  to  Caesarea-Philippi  is 
detailed,  and  some  of  the  incidents  dwelt  upon  ;  but 
this  entire  feature  of  the  story  is  left  out.  Think  of 
any  other  pope  in  the  succeeding  centuries  leaving 
that  declaration  out  of  his  bulls !  Simon  Peter 
seemed  to  admit  that  the  offer  of  the  keys  did  not 
need  to  be  put  on  record.  And  if  it  was  the  mod- 
esty of  this  man  which  prompted  the  omission,  all  we 
have  to  say  is,  that  was  a  characteristic,  at  any  rate, 
which  did  not  descend  to  later  ages,  or  light  on  any 
one  of  those  who  claimed  the  succession. 

But  now,  on  the  other  hand,  setting  up  no  claims 
whatsoever  in  their  own  behalf,  and  so  having  no 
theory  of  supremacy  to  defend,  the  Protestant 
churches  over  the  world  present  these  two  forms  of 
interpretation  of  our  Lord's  words,  either  of  which 
seems  a  fairer  rendering  of  their  meaning,  and  both 
of  which  instantly  rebut  all  argument  or  conjecture 


234  SIMON  peter: 

Ihat  a  papal  supremacy  was  intended  by  our  Lord  to 
be  established  in  Peter's  person. 

Some    people    like    to    think    that    the  confession 
which   Simon   uttered — that  is,  the   truth  in   it,    the 
doctrine  in  it — was   the  thing  intended  when  Jesus 
spoke  of  a  '*  rock."     The  language  is  all  rhetorical. 
Remember  the  external  circumstances  at  the  time  in 
which,  and  at  the   spot   near  which,  the  words  were 
spoken.     The  picture  in   the  sentence  is  that  of  an 
edifice  conspicuously  set  upon  a   rock.     Well,  there 
was  right  there  before  the  eyes  of  all  of  them  a  vast 
rock,  and  on  it  a  newly  erected   temple   of  beautiful 
white  marble,  a  heathen  place  of  worship,  but  a  fine 
building   nevertheless,    and    certainly  calculated    to 
suggest  the  figure.      It  was  the  habit  of  our  Lord  to 
catch  such  apt  similitudes.     But  what  is  the  natural 
thought  under  the  symbol  ?     Many  expositors  would 
make    their    notion    clear   by    a    slight   paraphrase. 
**  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  tjie   Living  God," 
said   Peter.      In   substance    the    Saviour  appears   to 
have  replied :  "  That  is  true ;  the   Holy  Ghost  has 
communicated  to  you  a  new  and  wonderful  doctrine; 
we  might  have  known  you  were   to  be   depended 
upon;  you  are  the  embodiment  of  your  own  confes- 
sion ;  it   is   Peter  through   and   through,  grand   and 
characteristic ;  you  are  a  rock,  and  your  creed  is  a 
rock,  too;  this  fine  answer  is  weighty  truth;  a  great 
organization  can  well  be  set   upon  it,  as  that  edifice 
up  yonder  is  set  on  the  cliff  over  the  fountain ;  your 
doctrine  shall  be  made   the   basis  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment church !" 


THE   GIFT   OF   THE    KEYS.  235 

Now,  that  is  certainly  dignified  and  scholarly  as 
an  exposition  of  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Many  there  are  who  accept  it  as  quite  satisfactory. 
But  there  are  -others  who  prefer  to  think  that 
he  meant  only  the  external  organization  of  the 
church  any  way,  and  referred  simply  to  some  forms 
of  construction  over  which  this  man  was  to  have 
personal  supervision.  They  are  solicitous  lest 
their  antagonists  should  say  that  it  gives  an  un- 
natural strain  to  language  to  apply  the  word  *'  rock  " 
to  a  man,  because  his  name  signified  rock,  and  then 
turn  in  the  next  instant  to  apply  it  the  rather  to  a 
mere  statement  of  his  belief  v/hich  he  had  just  made. 
And  they  feel  that  the  symmetry  and  intelligent 
connection  of  thought  might  as  well  be  preserved 
between  the  clauses.  They  are  willing,  therefore, 
to  admit  that  there  might  be  a  sense  in  which  Simon 
Peter  personally  was  designated  as  the  rock  on 
which  the  new  organization  should  be  erected.  And 
so  they  call  attention  to  the  structure  of  the  entire 
address,  and  proceed  to  restrict  carefully  the  notion 
contained  and  expressed  in  the  word  "  build."  This 
address  of  our  Lord  to  Peter  cannot  possibly  refer 
to  a  spiritual  headship  In  dealing  with  the  souls  of 
men ;  it  must  mean  some  sort  of  prominence  only 
in  the  practical  task  of  organizing  the  visible  con- 
gregations under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel ;  and 
that  was  most  assuredly  given  to  this  particular  one  of 
the  apostolic  band. 

"  Kingdom  "  here  signifies,   therefore,  the    church 
on  earth.     There  is  no  assumption  so  violent  as  that 


236  SIMON    PETER  : 

upon  which  the  whole  value  of  the  discussion,  so  far 
as  the  papal  communion  is  concerned,  must  be  con- 
sidered to  turn.  Two  things  at  once  are  arrogated 
as  given  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  priesthood. 
It  is  claimed  that  church  privileges  are  in  their  ex- 
clusive patronage  and  prerogative.  Nobody  outside 
of  the  Romish  communion  can  be  saved,  and  the 
priests  only  have  the  right  to  decide  who  shall  come 
in  or  stay  in.  Then  at  the  same  moment  this  very 
language  is  adroitly  diverted  so  that  it  shall  not  be 
the  membership  in  the  visible  church  which  passes 
into  discussion,  but,  in  any  given  case,  it  is  the 
eternal  ruin  or  welfare  of  the  man's  soul  in  hell  or 
heaven  that  is  put  at  stake.  For  did  not  the  Lord  tell 
Simon  Peter  that  whatsoever  he  should  bind  on  earth 
should  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  he  should 
loose  on  c-arth  should  be  loosed  in  heaven  ?  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church  would  not  hold  position  a  month  if 
it  were  not  believed  by  the  deluded  multitudes  that 
the  priests  had  power  to  control  the  souls  of  living 
men  and  decide  the  destiny  they  enter  beyond  the 
grave. 

It  is  pitiable  to  be  obliged  to  descend  into  parsing 
for  the  sake  of  argument ;  but  there  is  no  way  of 
showing  the  perversion  of  truth  here,  except  to  call 
attention  to  the  grammatical  phraseology.  The 
term  rendered  ''whatsoever"  is  in  the  neuter  gen- 
der, both  in  Greek  and  English.  This  is  explicit  and 
unmistakable.  It  is  not  whomsoever,  but  zvJiaU 
soever.  It  must  certainly,  therefore,  refer  to  things 
and  not  to  persons.      It  cannot  mean  souls ;   it  must 


THE    GIFT    OF   THE    KEYS.  237 

mean  rites  and  forms,  ceremonies  and  orders  of 
arrangement,  and  principles  of  organization.  In  this 
declaration  of  Scripture  there  is  no  allusion  to  heaven 
as  a  fixed  place  or  abode  of  happiness  above.  It  is 
awful  and  abhorrent  to  think  of  such  a  passage  as  this 
giving  the  control  to  men  over  so  vast  a  matter  as 
the  future  disposal  of  other  men's  souls.  The 
"keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  "  is  an  expression 
which  must  be  understood  as  belonging  to  the  visible 
church,  and  having  not  even  an  implied  bearing 
upon  the  infinite  and  august  decisions  of  the  future 
state.  To  bind  means  to  fix,  to  settle  ;  and  to  loose 
means  to  reject,  to  abrogate.  Jesus  is  talking  about 
the  mere  institutions  of  the  church  as  a  body,  and  is 
putting  Peter  forward  to  set  up  such  as  would  best 
complete  the  organization. 

In  paraphrase,  this  address  of  Jesus  to  Simon 
would  seem  to  read  thus :  **  I  will  give  to  thee  the 
responsibility  of  modeling  and  establishing  a  form  of 
government  and  management  of  the  church  vv  hich  I 
wish  you  to  construct  on  the  earth.  Whatsoever 
thou  shalt  ordain  as  best  and  most  convenient  for 
its  effective  action  and  perpetuity  I  w^ill  accept. 
Whatsoever  thou  shalt  esteem  needful  and  indis- 
pensable, judging  from  prudent  intercourse  with  men, 
shall  also  be  given  authority  by  the  sanction  of  God 
in  heaven.  And  whatsoever  appears  too  strict  or 
rigid,  either  in  the  old  ceremonies  or  the  former  pre- 
cepts or  rituals,  shall  be  rejected  also  on  high.  It 
shall  be  left  to  thee,  Simon  Peter,  in  connection  with 
the  other  apostles,  to  decide  what  should  be  the  cus- 


238  SIMON   PETER: 

toms  and  forms  and  principles  of  the  visible  church, 
and  what  shall  be  optional  and  what  shall  be  obli- 
gatory." 

And  so,  we  may  add  in  passing,  that  the  other 
parallel  instruction,  addressed  to  the  disciples  as  a 
whole,  in  the  passage  which  has  generally  been  asso- 
ciated with  this — that  which  has  the  expression  con- 
cerning "  remitting  sins" — means  simply  the  orderly 
exercise  of  church  discipline  to  be  administered. 

That  this  explanation  of  the  commission  to  Peter 
is  the  true  one,  is  corroborated  by  several  facts  in 
the  subsequent  history.  One  most  significant  matter 
of  observation  is  that  in  the  real  issues  involved 
Simon  Peter  never  did  have  any  such  primacy  as 
might  be  called  a  supremacy  over  the  rest  of  the 
apostles.  One  of  the  very  latest  acts  of  his  life  was 
such  that  Paul,  in  sharp  words,  withstood  him  to  the 
face  because  '*he  w^as  to  be  blamed."  Peter  never 
seems  to  have  been  consulted  more  than  the  rest. 
Indeed,  when  what  some  have  insisted  upon  calling 
the  First  Council  in  Jerusalem  was  held,  it  was 
James,  and  not  Simon  Peter,  who  presided  and  ulti- 
mately issued  the  decrees  of  that  body.  And  the 
case  is  far  stronger  when  we  look  at  the  question  of 
spiritual  supremacy.  For  here  we  have  the  apostle's 
own  words  for  our  help.  He  never  claimed  any- 
thing resembling  headship  over  his  brethren.  On 
the  contrary,  the  language  of  one  of  his  epistles  dis- 
tinctly repudiates  it  on  his  own  part,  and  exhorts  all 
the  rest  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  his  day  to  continue 
humble,  and  be  on  their  guard  against  ambition  and 


THE   GIFT    OF   THE    KEYS.  239 

pride :  *'  The  elders  which  are  among  you  I  exhort, 
who  am  also  an  elder,  and  a  witness  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  and  also  a  partaker  of  the  glory  that  shall 
be  revealed.  Feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  amonjr 
you,  taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by  constraint, 
but  wiUingly;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready 
mind  ;  neither  as  being  lords  over  God's  heritage, 
but  being  ensamples  to  the  flock.  And  when  the 
chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  shall  receive  a  crown 
of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away." 

Think  of  words  like  these  put  Into  a  Bull  addressed 
to  an  assemblage  of  the  clergy  by  a  modern  pope  ! 
Peter's  successors  would  be  likely  to  find  small  com- 
fort in  Peter's  two  epistles. 

But  now  as  to   mere  organization   of  the   visible 

church,  as  historically  detailed  to  us  in  the   Book  of 

the  Acts,  the   case  is  very  different.     Simon   Peter 

did  have  just  such  a  leadership  as  this  special  ofhce 

would    imply    in     establishing    the     congregations 

and  gathering  the  people  into   one.     He  had   "  the 

keys "  in  such  a  sense   as   that   he   first  opened   the 

doors  of  divine  communication  to  both  the  Jews-  and 

the   Gentiles.     The  figure  seems  to   mean  just  the 

ordinary  opening  of  the  counsels  of  God  to  men   in 

the  preaching  of  the  truth.     It  is  given  as  a  fact  that, 

when  the  Jews  in  those  days  made  a  man   a  Doctor 

of  the  Law,  they  put  into  his  hands  the  key  of  the 

room  in  the  Temple  where  the  sacred  books  were  kept; 

signifying  by  such  a  symbolic  act  that  authority  was 

now  conferred  upon  him  to  teach  and  to  expound  the 

''mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."     Certainly 
II 


240  SIMON    PETER: 

Peter  received  the  ''keys  "  in  this  sense;  for  it  is  a 
marvelous  fact  that  he  as  the  very  pioneer  in  the  work 
first  preached  the  whole  gospel  of  the  resurrection  to 
the  Israelites  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  and  then  formed 
the  converts  into  an  organic  body.  Even  after  that 
we  find  him  in  the  advance.  He  preached  to  the 
first  Jew  and  the  first  Gentile  the  message  to  men  as 
announced  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Two  things  there  have  been  which  it  would  seem 
as  if  ambitious  men  had  always  been  trying  to  get, 
but  which  have  been  deliberately  and  by  name  set 
apart  to  Christ  himself ;  these  two  are  the  Foundation 
and  the  Keys.  Simon  Peter  ascribes  the  first  of  these 
joyfully  and  enthusiastically  to  Him  ;  he  even  quotes 
Scripture  to  give  weight  to  his  counsel  showing 
where  it  belongs  :  "Ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built 
up  a  spiritual  house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ. 
Wherefore  also  it  is  contained  in  the  scripture,  Be- 
hold, I  lay  in  Sion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect, 
precious ;  and  he  that  beUeveth  on  Him  shall  not  be 
confounded." 

The  other  of  these  great  objects  of  human  ambi- 
tion, the  keys,  our  divine  Lord  spoke  out  of  the 
heavens  above  to  claim  for  his  own.  While  the  evan- 
gelist John  was  lying  at  his  feet  as  dead,  the  Son  of 
Man  laid  his  hand  upon  him  and  said  :  "Fear  not;  I 
am  the  first  and  the  last.  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was 
dead  ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore,  Amen  ; 
and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  After  this 
the  same  exalted  Being  gave  him  a  message  to  de- 


THE    GIFT    OF   THE    KEYS.  24 1 

liver  to  one  of  the  churches,  and  in  order  to  have 
it  authoritative  and  final  he  adds  this  endorsement  at 
the  beginning:  "These  things  saith  he  that  is  holy, 
he  that  is  true,  he  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  he 
that  openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth  ;  and  shutteth, 
and  no  man  openeth." 

Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  therefore,  and  not  Simon 
Peter  at  all,  is  the  true  Rock-Foundation  of  the 
Church,  on  which,  if  it  stands,  it  stands  safely  and 
forever.  It  would  be  pitiably  insecure,  if  it  sought 
to  plant  itself  upon  an  old  disciple,  with  a  series 
of  popes  coming  along  in  train  after  him.  ''Other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which 
is  Christ."  Why  should  anyone  desire  to  takeaway, 
if  he  could,  the  two  chief  prerogatives  of  the  Son 
of  Man  who  was  the  Son  of  God  ?  ''Our  Rock  is  not 
as  their  rock,  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges." 

Yet  there  is  no  good  in  belittling  the  real  ex- 
cellence, or  the  true  official  rank  of  this  disciple. 
Without  doubt  Simon  Peter  was  put  forward  for  a 
specific  and  honorable  end.  To  deny  or  evade 
this  is  to  become  quite  too  protestant  for  truth.  It 
has  been  said  again  and  again  that  this  brave-hearted 
and  successful  preacher  added  as  many  Christians  to 
the  church  of  the  risen  Redeemer,  in  its  first  year,  as, 
for  many  centuries  after,  were  added  by  all  the  rest 
of  the  apostolic  band  together. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


M 


''BEHIND    ME,    SATAN. 

While  Jesus,  with  his  company  of  disciples  gathered 
around  him,  was  still  lingering  in  the  region  of  Caesarea, 
he  seemed  to  think  that  the  time  had  arrived  in  which 
he  ought  to  instruct  them  more  definitely  concerning 
the  atonement  as  a  doctrine  of  chief  importance  to 
all  who  wished  to  be  saved.  And  on  this  occasion  two 
peculiarities  of  Simon  Peter  came  prominently  into 
view,  his  faith  and  his  forwardness.  The  one  was 
commended,  the  other  was  signally  rebuked.  We 
spend  a  few  moments  in  this  chapter  in  showing 
how  the  grand  confession  of  his  Master  was  followed 
by  the  most  miserable  mistake  the  disciple  ever 
made. 

Hitherto  Jesus  had  taught  his  followers  concerning 
some  of  the  mysteries  of  his  Messiahship.  To  all  his 
instruction  on  that  head  they  gave  their  joyful  assent, 
admitting  at  once  his  claims  to  be  the  long-promised 
King  of  the  Jews.  The  profane  world  was  divided  in 
estimates ;  they  were  united  in  one  positive  acknowl- 
edgment now,  which  this  comrade  Peter  had  just 
voiced  in  their  behalf,  *'  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God." 

Still  there  remained  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous 
task  for  him  to  perform.  He  must  damp  their  glow- 
ing ardor;  he  must  wound  their  feelings  of  personal 
regard ;  he  must  check  all  their  anticipations  of  the 
comingback  of  the  old  grandeurs  to  the  realm  of  David. 


"BEHIND    ME,    SATAN.  243 

They  must  be  made  to  see  that  priesthood  ranks  be- 
fore royalty  always  in  the  gospel  economy.  Christ 
was  to  suffer  before  he  could  reign.  This  they  ought 
to  know. 

"  From  that  time  forth  began  Jesus  to  show  unto 
his  disciples,  how  that  he  must  go  unto  Jerusalem  and 
suffer  many  things  of  the  elders  and  chief  priests  and 
scribes,  and  be  killed  and  be  raised  again  the  third 
day."  This  task  was  difficult,  because  of  human  dul- 
ness.  The  disciples  had  lost  the  true  idea  of  a  spirit- 
ual kingdom.  All  the  images  of  splendor  in  pro- 
phecy were  to  them  sensuous  merely.  The  King  was 
only  an  oriental  monarch  ;  the  kingdom  was  no  more 
than  a  wide  empire  of  extensive  sway.  And  clear 
down  to  the  last  moment,  their  Inveterate  question 
was  the  unceasing  refrain,  "  Wilt  thou  at  this  time  re- 
store the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?" 

Moreover,  this  task  was  dangerous,  because  such 
teaching  necessarily  ran  counter  to  the  strongest  pre- 
judices of  their  education  and  previous  belief  They 
revered  Jerusalem;  he  told  them  that  there  should  be 
just  the  spot  of  peril  to  him.  They  had  the  highest 
regard  for  their  traditional  leaders  ;  he  detailed  with 
calm  significance  the  treatment  which  the  elders,  chief 
priests,  and  scribes  were  to  give  him.  And  there  was 
unmeasurable  risk  In  such  revelations  as  these  now. 
A  rejection  by  the  Sanhedrin  would  carry  force  to 
many  a  mind.  And  delicate  indeed  was  the  duty 
Jesus  had  to  perform,  when  he  attempted  to  teach 
those  disciples  that  through  death  he  was  to  live; 
by  the  cross  only  should  he  come  to  the  crown. 


244  SIMON    PETER: 

We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  meet  an  inter- 
ruption at  this  point.  No  one  would  be  half  so  likely 
to  speak  out  unbidden  as  Simon  Peter.  The  narra- 
tive advances  a  step  to  note  his  interference.  With  a 
quick  revulsion  of  feeling  this  man  must  have  passed 
from  the  mood  of  deep  reverence  in  which  he  had 
made  his  noble  confession  of  faith,  into  a  mood  of 
surprising  presumption,  for  we  find  him  proffering  ad- 
vice to  his  Lord.  ''Then  Peter  took  him, and  began 
to  rebuke  him,  saying.  Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord ; 
this  shall  not  be  unto  thee." 

Perhaps  this  means  that  Peter  took  Jesus  one  side  a 
little,  turned  his  face  away  from  the  others  so  as  to 
whisper  his  expostulation.  This  expression,  "Be  it 
far  from  thee,"  is  singularly  unfortunate.  The  margin 
renders  it  in  much  greater  exactness,  "  Pity  thyself." 
Simon  only  meant  to  cheer  up  our  Lord  a  little : 
"  Favor  yourself;  do  not  put  pain  into  your  pros- 
pect." 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  conceive  an  act  more 
thoroughly  exhibitory  and  illustrative  of  this  disci- 
ple's character  than  that  which  is  here  recorded.  It 
derives  more  significance  from  the  fact  that  the 
narrative  of  it  is  fullest  and  most  detailed  in  that  gos- 
pel which  Peter  himself  indited  to  Mark.  That  evan- 
gelist docs  not  so  much  as  mention  the  grand  enco- 
mium which  "Simon  Bar-jona"  received,  but  he 
spreads  out  this  humiliating  mistake  of  his  at  full 
length. 

The  entire  scene  Is  exquisitely  true  to  nature. 
Peter  was  probably  elated   above   measure  by    the 


"BEHIND    ME,    SATAN."  245 

favor  just  shown  him  in  putting  him  into  the  lead  of 
the  rest.  The  first  exercise  of  his  ''headship"  was 
found  in  this  absurd,  foohsh  presumption.  He  who 
had  just  been  entrusted  with  the  organization  of 
Christ's  church  began  his  administration  with  an  ex- 
postulation addressed  to  its  supreme  Head ! 

It  showed  Simon's  ignorance.  Could  there  have 
been  a  more  miserable  misunderstandinc?  of  the  Mes- 
siah's  errand?  It  exhibited  his  precipitation  also; 
he  must  take  the  Saviour  to  task  there  immediately 
in  the  presence  of  the  whole  company.  It  made  his 
vanity  conspicuous,  for  his  very  manner  seems  to  be 
familiar,  as  he  turns  Jesus'  head  away  a  little  out  of 
hearing;  the  patronizing  temper  of  the  words  is 
singularly  offensive  to  all  our  notions  of  propriety. 

But  we  must  admit  that  it  displayed  Simon's  no- 
ble generosity  most  of  all.  He  could  not  bear  to 
have  the  Saviour  put  himself  in  pain.  Doubtless,  he 
thought  that  Jesus  was  unnecessarily  depressed  in 
spirits.  He  desired  to  encourage  him  and  prevent 
his  being  so  down-hearted.  His  sympathies  were 
aroused.  Still,  admitting  all  this,  extenuating  his 
behavior  as  we  may,  there  remains  on  every  mind 
the  impression  of  Peter's  weakness.  He  was  forward 
to  no  purpose,  and  impertinent  only  to  his  own 
shame. 

So,  as  we  return  to  the  record  once  more,  we  find 
a  rebuke  addressed  to  his  presumption.  A  startling 
reprehension  fell  back  upon  him,  unparalleled  and 
overwhelming.  "But  he  turned  and  said  unto  Peter, 
Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan :   thou  art  an  offence  unto 


246  SIMON  peter: 

mc :  for  thou  savorest  not  the  things  that  be  cf 
God,  but  those  that  be  of  men." 

The  Saviour  would  not  Hsten  to  anything  of  the 
sort.  This  language  is  explosive  and  violent.  Two 
particles  are  chosen  which  indicate  intense  energy  of 
reprobation.  "  Go,  begone  ! "  As  if  Christ  had  said, 
"Away  with  you!  Out  of  my  sight!"  This  was 
the  same  form  of  expression  he  employed  when  in 
the  solemn  hours  of  his  official  temptation  he  had  re- 
buked the  devil  himself  "  Savorest "  is  a  poor 
word  ;  our  Lord  meant  to  say  that  Simon  had  only 
gross,  low  human  views.  Our  new  revision  renders 
it:  "thou  mindest  not  the  things  of  God,  but  the 
things  of  men." 

This  peremptory  language  illustrates  with  equal 
clearness  the  character  of  our  Lord.  His  deep  ab- 
horrence of  everything  sinful  comes  suddenly  to  no- 
tice. It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  represent  the  gos- 
pel as  all  tenderness  and  soft  forbearance.  The 
Master  himself  had  stern  words  at  command ;  he 
could  make  sharp,  stinging  utterances  when  they 
were  needed. 

What  a  rift  In  the  clouds  of  mere  earthly  concep- 
tion this  one  small  sentence  opens  !  What  altogether 
inadequate  notions  of  Christ's  divine  work  must  this 
disciple  have  had  before  he  could  possibly  indulge 
himself  to  such  a  proposal!  Was  Peter  willing  to 
forego  the  making  of  an  atonement  for  sin? 

How  quickly  we  are  reminded  of  the  sad  remark 
Jesus  once  made  on  another  occasion :  "  I  have  a 
baptism  to  h.Q  baptized  with,  and  how  am  I  strait- 


"BEHIND    ME,    SATAN."  247 

ened  till  it  be  accomplished  ! "  Now  and  then,  all 
along  his  career,  there  came  to  him  the  recollection 
of  the  "hour"  which  was  approaching.  It  shone 
luridly  in  upon  even  his  happiest  seasons.  He  only 
saw  the  heaven-side  of  this  economy  of  redemption. 
The  great  plan  of  sacrificial  atonement  swept  out  into 
his  view ;  but  he  could  not  make  even  his  disciples 
understand  it.     So  he  bore  his  burden  unshared. 

Yet,  although  he  was  misconstrued,  he  would  not 
drop  down  his  standard.  We  see  here  that  he  reas- 
serts the  doctrine,  for  which  the  now  penitent  Peter 
perhaps  had  more  relish,  and  extends  the  reach  of  it 
even  to  his  followers.  He  was  to  suffer,  and  they  were 
to  suffer  likewise.  And  he  closes  this  most  instruct- 
ive conversation  with  plain  suggestions  of  warning  and 
affectionate  counsel.  He  wished  to  have  no  one 
join  lot  with  him  under  mistake.  No  man  should  be 
permitted  even  to  "pity  himself."  It  was  not  a  light 
thing  to  become  a  Christian.  There  was  a  cross 
coming  before  each  crown.  "  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
his  disciples,  if  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me. 
For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it  :  and 
whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

We  reach  now  the  lessons  to  be  learned  by  us  all 
from  such  an  incident  in  the  life  of  this  disciple. 

Begin  with  this  :  "Let  him  that  thinkcth  he  stand- 
eth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall."  There  could  be  no  more 
vivid  illustration,  no  more  strenuous  enforcement,  of 
these  words  of  another  apostle,  than  the  frightful  rever- 
sal of  language  used  towards  this  one. 
II* 


248  SIMON  peter: 

Peter  never  appeared  better  than  at  the  opening  cf 
this  interview.  The  sentence  of  approval  :  "Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona:"  will  go  down  the 
ages.  But  now  how  violent  seems  the  reprobation  : 
"Away  with  you,  devil !  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan  !  " 

We  shall  miss  the  instruction  if  we  suppose  this 
belonged  peculiarly  and  all  alone  to  Simon,  the  son  of 
Jonas.  That  spurning  rebuke,  that  withering  name, 
may  come  to  any  one  of  us  in  the  hour  of  pride  ;  for 
there  is  just  this  mixture  in  every  man,  the  Pctra 
and  the  Satana.  The  Rock  and  the  Devil  dispute 
for  the  sway  and  possession  in  all  human  hearts. 

We  may  learn  also  that  it  is  the  hour  of  praise  which 
is  oftenest  the  hour  of  peril.  Reproach  has  this  one 
good  thing  about  it ;  it  does  not  distract  our  senses 
and  make  us  lose  head.  That  was  a  wise  remark 
made  by  an  English  orator:  "Every  man  is  stronger 
for  knowing  the  worst  he  can  know  about  himself, 
and  for  acting  upon  this  knowledge."  But  compli- 
ments bewilder  us,  and  the  sense  of  a  great  achieve- 
ment puffs  up. 

Simon  Peter  was  proud  to  be  told  that  he  knew 
some  things  that  no  other  flesh  and  blood  had  ever 
found  out.  So  he  proposed  to  give  some  new 
opinions  as  to  the  unnecessary  difficulties  of  the 
atonement.     And  that  was  quite  beyond  him. 

It  is  the  full  cup  which  is  so  very  difficult  to  carry 
without  spilling  its  contents.  *^  Indeed,"  says  the 
poetic  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  it  is  hard  for  a  man  to  be 
cried  up  for  a  saint,  to  walk  upon  the  spire  of  glory. 


"BEHIND    ME,    SATAN."  249 

and  to  have  no    adherence    or    impure    mixtures    of 
vanity  grow  on  the  outside  of  his  heart." 

We  may  learn  here,  once  more,  the  temper  in 
which  to  receive  rebuke.  The  fact  has  come  to  our 
knowIedg:e,  more  than  once  in  the  study  of  Simon's 
biography,  that  in  his  disposition  he  was  a  quick  and 
passionate  man.  Hard  words  might  reasonably  be 
expected  to  make  him  fly  into  anger.  But  there  is 
no  evidence  of  any  such  v/eakness  here.  He  knew 
he  deserved  all  his  Lord  said  to  him  on  this  occasion. 
To  all  appearance,  Simon  bent  his  head  acquiescingly 
to  the  reprimand  he  had  merited. 

Indeed,  more  than  this ;  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  this  disciple,  humiliated  beyond  measure  as  he 
must  have  been,  not  only  made  no  impatient  reply, 
and  offered  no  excited  extenuation,  but  actually 
heard  and  heeded  the  admonition,  and  tried  to  grov.^ 
better  under  it.  For,  some  years  afterwards,  when  he 
was  writing  his  Epistle  to  Christians,  he  said :  *'  For 
what  glory  is  it,  if,  when  ye  be  buffeted  for  your 
faults,  ye  shall  take  it  patiently  ?  But  if,  when  ye  do 
well,  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  ac- 
ceptable with  God." 

This  man  was  willing  to  bear  all  that  the  speech  of 
people  could  bring  to  him.  If  he  deserved  the 
rebuke — as  in  this  instance  he  knew  he  did — then  he 
bore  it  because  he  had  merited  it.  If  he  did  not  de- 
serve the  reproaches  they  heaped  upon  him,  then  he 
bore  them  still  patiently,  because  forbearance  was  a 
grace  that  had  a  likeness  to  his  Lord  in  it. 

In  this  was  the   greatness   of  that   disciple.     His 


250  SIMON    TETER  : 

image  rises  before  us  In  a  simple  majesty  of  personal 
power.  For  all  the  time  he  was  trying  to  Improve 
himself,  he  was  battling  his  besetting  sins,  whatever 
they  were,  he  was  praying  for  higher  attainments  In 
grace. 

It  Is  a  sad  sign  almost  always  when  a  young 
Christian  becomes  Impatient  of  reproof,  and  begins  to 
suspect  those  who  would  seek  to  give  him  help.  It 
does  not  matter  much  how  we  reach  It ;  but  surely 
the  aim  of  our  religious  life  ought  to  be,  to  become 
more  free  from  faults,  and  more  advanced  In  holiness. 
He,  who  win  kindly  check  us  when  we  are  going  too 
far,  prompt  us  when  we  are  laggard,  teach  us  when 
we  are  lU-Informed,  and  encourage  us  a  little  when 
we  are  trying  to  do  our  best — he  Is  our  truest  friend. 

Again,  we  learn  here  the  deleterious  influence  of  a 
defective  theology.  When  our  Lord  tried  to  give  his 
disciples  clearer  Instruction  concerning  the  atonement, 
showing  how  he  should  have  to  die  on  the  cross,  this 
impetuous  man  Peter  began  to  chide  him,  and  plead 
with  him  to  give  all  that  part  of  his  work  up.  He 
was  not  evangelical  in  his  views. 

The  suffering  of  Jesus  Christ  is  really  the  center  of 
all  proper  understanding  of  the  gospel.  He  who 
has  not  embraced  that  as  the  foundation  truth  of  Ills 
piety  and  his  hope  of  heaven,  has  notyet  attained  the 
repose  of  an  Intelligent  faith.  If  Peter's  absurd 
counsel  to  the  world's  Redeemer  had  been  heard  and 
heeded,  not  one  human  soul  would  ever  have  been 
saved. 

It  is  not  possible  that  our  Lord  came  to  this  earth 


*' BEHIND    ME,    SATAN."  25  I 

merely  to  live  an  exemplary  life,  and  set  a  pattern  of 
moral  correctness,  however  attractive  and  beautiful. 
He  came  to  die,  that  men  might  be  delivered  from 
the  curse  of  God's  broken  law.  Now  to  have  all 
the  brave  love  of  Simon  for  Jesus,  and  yet  be  so 
bitterly  mistaken  as  to  be  willing  to  miss  the  death 
at  Jerusalem,  is  faulty  to  the  last  degree.  No 
wonder  our  Lord  would  not  bear  a  suggestion  so 
abhorrent. 

So  we  see  what  to  say  when  unintelligent  teachers 
tell  us  to  throw  away  our  notions  of  sacrifice.  The 
Devil  himself  would  well  approve  a  theological  system 
which  would  simply  omit  Christ's  death  on  the  cross. 
Hence,  when  any  visionary  would  tempt  us  with  a 
philosophic  scheme  of  mere  conduct  to  surrender 
this  grand  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  through 
a  Redeemer  crucified,  our  words  of  defence  and  re- 
pudiation could  not  be  better  chosen  than  Christ 
chose  his  :  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  !  " 

Finally,  we  may  learn  from  this  story  what  is  the 
best  preparation  for  usefulness  among  the  tempted 
and  tried :  it  is  simply  to  have  been  tempted  and 
tried  ourselves. 

Here  we  come  back  to  Simon  Peter's  two  wonder- 
ful letters  once  more.  He  learned  his  wisdom  in  the 
school  of  falling  and  failure.  So  you  see  how  tenderly 
he  speaks,  how  impressively  he  warns,  how  affection- 
ately he  encourages.  Any  poor,  troubled,  inconsistent 
Christian  would  do  well  to  study  what  he  had  to  say. 
'*  Humble  yourselves,"  he  pleads,  "under  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,  that  he  may  exalt  you  in  due  time." 


252  SIMON  peter: 

Do  not  disrespect  Simon  Peter  to-day,  because 
you  hear  the  Lord  call  him  '*  Satan."  For  remember 
how  Jesus  bore  with  him  to  the  end.  And  no 
words  of  Simon's  are  more  pathetic  than  those  he 
uses  Avhen  he  says  :  ''  Account  that  the  long-suffer- 
ing of  our  Lord  is  salvation." 

All  we  need  is  to  move  forward,  and  keep  moving. 
And  as  I  close  this  chapter,  I  chose  to  end  it  with 
those  fitting  sentences  of  Peter  himself,  the  last  he 
ever  spoke  to  the  churches:  '*  Ye,  therefore,  beloved, 
seeing  ye  know  these  things  before,  beware  lest  ye 
also,  being  led  away  with  the  error  of  the  wicked,  fall 
from  your  own  steadfastness.  But  grow  in  grace  and 
in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  To  him  be  glory  both  now  and  forever. 
Amen." 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

*'WITH    HIM    IN   THE    HOLY    MOUNT." 

Somewhere  we  have  all  met  the  story  of  a  Span- 
ish artist  who  painted  the  scene  of  the  Last  Supper, 
choosing  the  moment  in  which  our  Lord  was  reply- 
ing to  Judas,  **Thou  hast  said."  One  of  the  by- 
standers, designing  to  offer  merited  compliment  to  a 
w^ork  so  excellent,  directed  attention  to  the  natural- 
ness of  the  wine  glowing  in  the  glasses  on  the  board. 
To  his  surprise  the  painter,  with  an  expression  of 
impatient  disgust,  immediately  dashed  his  brushes 
over  the  unoffending  goblets,  completely  erasing 
them  at  a  stroke. 

*'  Nothing  shall  be  permitted  to  remain  on  my 
canvas,"  he  exclaimed,  ''that  can  even  for  a  moment 
arrest  the  eye  of  a  beholder  enough  to  turn  it  from 
the  countenance  of  the  Christ." 

All  this  is  true  of  Scripture  study;  with  such  a 
spirit  each  of  us  ought  always  to  depict  the  incidents 
of  the  sacred  narrative.  Jesus  Christ  should  be  ex- 
hibited— as  he  really  is — the  one  center  of  all  excel- 
lence and  attraction.  Hence,  it  is  not  easy  to  conduct 
our  story  of  Simon  Peter's  life  without  seeming  some- 
times to  cross  what  more  appropriately  belongs  to 
the  life  of  our  divine  Lord. 

But  here  in  the  history  of  the  Transfiguration  it 
surely  is  not  either  necessary  or  becoming  that  wc 
should  pass  by  the  suggestive  circumstances  which 
attended  the  scene.      Nor  is  the  companionship  in 


2  54  SIMON    PETER: 

which  Jesus  stood  without  spiritual  instruction.  Nor 
even  is  the  behavior  of  the  slumberous  disciples  prof- 
itless as  a  reminder  of  our  human  weakness  in  the 
hour  of  greatest  advantage. 

A  few  words  are  needed  here  concerning  the  spot 
before  we  attempt  to  draw  nigh  the  spectacle  ;  where 
was  this  *^  mountain  apart  ?" 

The  current  tradition  has  been  undisturbed  for 
many  centuries  that  this  august  event  took  place 
upon  Mount  Tabor.  There  is  nothing  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  to  invalidate  the  statement,  and  surely 
there  is  no  unfitness,  intrinsically,  in  the  locality  ren- 
dering it  unworthy.  The  weight  of  scholarly  au- 
thority seems  going  steadily  in  favor  of  some  spur  of 
Mount  Hermon  as  the  locality  chosen  for  this  scene. 
Opinion  may  carry  the  day,  but  the  arguments  do 
not  help  much.  And  there  will  always  remain  a 
tranquilly  disposed  few  who  will  sympathize  with 
good  Bishop  Hall  in  his  deprecation  of  needless 
change :  "  For  the  place,  tradition  hath  taken  it  still 
for  Tabor ;  and  I  list  not  to  disturb  it  without  war- 
rant." 

Up  into  this  mountain,  then,  we  understand  our 
Lord  one  evening  went  to  pray.  There  he  was  trans- 
figured;  ''His  raiment  became  shining  exceeding 
white  as  snow,  so  as  no  fuller  on  earth  can  white 
them:  and  there  appeared  unto  them  Elias,  with  Moses: 
and  they  were  talking  with  Jesus."  Grand,  vague, 
and  beautiful  that  magnificent  spectacle  rises  upon 
the  devout  vision. 

Five  persons  besides  Jesus  stood  on  that  mountain 


"WITH    HIM    IN    THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         255 

together.  He  took  with  him  three — James,  Peter, 
and  John ;  and  there  came  to  him  on  his  arrival 
two  more — Moses  and  Ehjah.  Suppose  we  look 
upon  this  scene  as  the  earliest  union  prayer-meeting 
known  to  New  Testament  times.  Then  we  should  see 
that  one  man  represented  the  Prophets,  one  the  Law, 
and  one  the  Gospel — the  three  grand  dispensations 
of  divine  grace.  Then  we  should  notice,  also,  in  the 
assembly  that  two  persons  had  been  dead,  and  three 
were  living,  and  one  was  wearing  the  supernatural 
glory  which  the  living  are  said  to  receive  when  they 
enter  the  rest  that  remaineth. 

So  there  comes  a  lesson  here  at  the  very  beginning 
of  our  patient  study:  if  ever  the  church  on  earth 
shall  be  united  into  one  body,  it  will  be  when  all 
names  and  rituals  and  dispensations  are  gathered 
most  obediently  around  the  one  Christ. 

Three  ''  beholds  "  are  introduced  into  the  narrative 
which  is  given  in  Matthew's  Gospel  as  to  the  particu- 
lars of  this  vision  of  the  transfiguration;  they  render 
his  account  exceedingly  picturesque  and  spirited. 
These  will  furnish  us  a  sufficient  analysis. 

I.  "Behold!  Moses  and  Elias  !  "  What  did  the 
presence  of  these  ancient  prophets  on  this  mysterious 
occasion  Avith  Jesus  really  mean?  There  must  have 
been  some  powerful  reason  for  summoning  men  from 
the  dead,  "  who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  his 
decease,  which  he  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem." 
We  must  conclude  that  there  was,  in  the  purpose  of 
this  resumption  of  Christ's  divinity,  the  plan  to  show 
that  all  the  teachings  which  the  law  and  the  prophets 


256  SIMON    PETER: 

had  offered  were  united  with  and  centered  in  the 
atonement  he  was  here  on  earth  to  work  out  for 
human  sin. 

i  Strange  indeed,  and  otherwise  inexplicable,  is  It  to 
find  in  such  a  moment  joined  with  the  Saviour  the 
sudden  and  miraculous  appearance  of  these  men  so 
long  dead.  Those  colossal  leaders  of  ancient  times, 
whose  very  history  appears  to  step  from  mountain  to 
mountain — as  if  they  w^ere  fitted  to  tread  only  the 
high  places  of  the  earth — now  stood  sharing  the 
celestial  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  before  the  astonished 
gaze  of  the  disciples.  But  stranger  and  more  start- 
ling still  is  it  to  find  them  conversing  only  on  the  one 
theme  of  redemption  by  the  gospel, — "  his  decease 
which  he  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem."  They 
talked  over  the  old,  old  story  of  the  cross,  as  the  sub- 
ject of  highest  and  deepest  interest  to  all. 

That  very  doctrine,  then,  which  Simon  Peter  had 
found  so  difficult,  was  perfectly  familiar  to  both  of 
these  glorified  prophets.  All  the  types  of  Moses, 
and  all  the  predictions  of  Elijah,  now  hurried  to  come 
and  make  modest  obeisance  to  the  substance  and  the 
realities  of  Jesus  as  he  fulfilled  them.  These  Old 
Testament  symbolisms  and  ceremonials  advanced  now 
out  from  the  shadows,  to  arrange  themselves  around 
the  story  of  atonement — like  the  sheaves  of  the  sons 
of  Jacob  around  the  sheaf  of  the  typical  son  Joseph. 

Nor  is  this  all  that  seems  to  be  taught.  The  unex- 
pected reappearance  of  such  guests  upon  this  occasion 
cannot  be  without  important  meaning  as  to  the  state 
of  the  blessed  ones  in  heaven.     We  find  the  disciples 


*'Wrni    HIM    IN    THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         257 

going  away  conversing  about  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  and  asking  what  it  could  mean.  Evidently  our 
Lord  designed  to  offer  here  this  new  doctrine  of 
another  life.  How  real  are  both  worlds  to  the  confi- 
dence of  an  intelligent  and  unwavering  belief!  Mark 
these  forms — recognized,  named,  shining  in  glory. 
It  is  plain  they  were  bodies,  though  immediately  from 
the  celestial  presence  of  God.  Fifteen  hundred  years 
had  passed  since  Moses  had  left  this  land  of  dying 
men,  and  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Nebo  had  en- 
tered the  land  of  the  eternally  living.  And  nine 
hundred  years  had  passed  since  Elijah  had  been 
caught  up  in  the  whirlwind  to  an  infinite  existence 
beyond  the  stars.  Yet  here  they  were  alive  and 
speaking,  in  no  feature  injured  or  changed.  *'  Them 
that  sleep  in  Jesus"  Jesus  was  already  beginning  to 
''  bring  with  him." 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  was  up  to  this 
time  measurably  unknown  and  always  difificult.  These 
disciples  had  ''had  Moses  and  the  prophets;"  would 
they  believe  any  better  "if  one  rose  from  the  dead  "  ? 
Here,  then,  singularly  enough,  Moses  in  person  and 
one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  prophets  did  rise  from 
the  dead.  They  were  offering  in  their  own  presence 
the^most  palpable  and  convincing  evidence  of  the  life 
and  safety  of  those  who  had  died.  It  is  worth  hold- 
ing, this  thought  of  comfort :  how  close  seems  that 
future  to  our  present  when  fifteen  hundred  years  are 
not  allowed  to  count  in  the  reckoning !  How  very 
near  appears  that  abode  of  the  redeemed  when  the 
communion  of  saints  is  achieved   so  easily !     Said 


258  SIMON    PETER: 

Beza,  when  Calvin  died,  "Now  Is  heaven  more  dear, 
and  now  Is  coming  death  less  dreadful !  " 

II.  While  this  conversation  went  on  with  Jesus,  a 
new  wonder  was  displayed :  "  Behold  !  a  cloud !  "  All 
the  evangelists  take  pains  to  mention  this  phenomenon 
in  all  its  details;  Matthew,  however,  adds  an  epithet 
which  no  othernarrator  employs,  and  It  Is  a  singularly 
specific  term  of  description.  He  says  It  was  "a  bright 
cloud."  And  this  does  not  mean  a  lit  cloud,  as  If 
something  was  shining  upon  it;  it  was  a  luminous 
cloud,  and  from  itself  came  Its  wonderful  brilliance. 
It  is  likely  the  display  took  place  In  the  darkness, 
somewhere  between  the  midnight  and  the  dawn. 

There  are  some  other  peculiarities  in  the  language 
here,  artlessly  scattered  through  the  chapters  of  the 
three  historians,  of  which  notice  might  not  ordinarily 
be  taken  by  the  cursory  reader.  Peter  proposed  to 
erect  three  tabernacles.  The  voice  came  out  of  a 
cloud.  They  talked  of  a  deeease.  The  entire  scenery 
of  this  transfiguration  drama  Is  Intensely  In  the  Old 
Testament  spirit;  It  seems  to  savor  of  the  ceremonial 
and  the  ritual.  For  the  word  decease  In  the  Greek 
is  exodus.  There  was  an  ancient  exodus  once  of 
great  historic  moment  and  symbolic  meaning.  There 
were  tabernacles  in  that  day;  and  over  the  chief 
tabernacle  of  all  was  a  cloud;  and  out  of  that  cloud 
came  often  a  voice  which  shook  the  mercy-seat. 

Remember  also  that  once  before,  away  upon 
another  mountain,  Moses  had  seen  a  bush  lit  without 
being  consumed,  and  a  voice  had  likewise  spoken  on 
that  occasion  from  out  of  the  midst  of  it.     And  re- 


"WITH    IIIM    IN   THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         259 

member  that  Elijah  had  once  had  a  vision  In  a  moun- 
tain also,  and  in  that  case  there  had  been  a  storm- 
cloud  and  a  luminous  fire,  and  the  voice  which  spoke 
to  him  was  small  and  still.  Both  of  these  prophets 
had  been  made  afraid  by  the  presence  of  God  and 
had  covered  their  faces  as  the  disciples  here  covered 
theirs. 

We  readily  perceive,  therefore,  from  all  the  sur- 
roundings of  this  spectacle,  that  our  Lord  meant  to 
identify  the  spirit  of  that  old  dispensation  with  the 
new,  as  well  as  the  church.  He  himself  had  dwelt  in 
the  pillar  of  cloud  before  which  Moses  was  wont  to 
remain  uncovered.  He  personally  was  the  "  Angel- 
Jehovah"  who  had  guided  Israel  through  the  great 
and  terrible  wilderness  while  they  dwelt  in  taberna- 
cles. Hence,  the  light  in  the  cloud  which  these  dis- 
ciples were  now  looking  upon  was  the  same  as  that 
which  used  to  glimmer  on  the  mercy-seat.  All  the 
old  economy  was  passing  away  into  the  new.  All 
that  the  ancient  dispensation  had  Inculcated  In  the 
law — all  that  it  had  revealed  in  the  visions  of  the 
seers — was  simply  the  fact  and  the  meaning  of  the 
atonement  which  Jesus  was  just  making  in  the 
**  decease"  to  be  accomplished  at  Jerusalem. 

HI.  This  is  not  left  to  conjecture:  ''Behold!  a 
voice!"  While  they  were  looking  and  wondering, 
words  fell  down  out  of  the  cloud:  "This  Is  my 
beloved  Son,  In  whom  I  am  well  pleased;  hear  ye 
him."  It  was  this  voice  which  made  especial  impres- 
sion on  the  memory  of  Simon  Peter.  Thirty  years 
after,  when  all  injunctions  of  secrecy  were  removed, 


26o  SIMON  peter: 

tills  apostle  put  it  Into  writing  and  told  the  entire 
world  what  the  disciples  had  thought  about  it.  No 
one  can  read  his  glowing  language  without  being 
convinced  that  they  reckoned  this  scene  as  the  main 
confirmation  of  gospel  truth  :  *'  For  we  have  not  fol- 
lowed cunningly  devised  fables,  when  we  made 
known  unto  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  were  eye-witnesses  of  his  majesty. 
For  he  received  from  God  the  Father  honor  and 
glory,  when  there  came  such  a  voice  to  him  from  the 
excellent  glory.  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased.  And  this  voice  which  came  from  heaven 
we  heard,  when  we  were  with  him  in  the  holy  mount. 
We  have  also  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy :  where- 
unto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light 
that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn, 
and  the  daystar  arise  In  your  hearts." 

It  would  seem  as  If  more  might  be  made  than 
usually  is  made  of  this  transfiguration  scene  as  an 
argument  for  the  truth  of  our  religion.  That  voice 
from  heaven  Is  the  summons  of  Jehovah  in  person  to 
the  world  at  large.  It  was  in  the  Old  Testament; 
here  it  Is  in  the  New.  It  was  spoken  at  the  baptism 
once  before.  The  willful  race  of  unbelievers  may 
cry  out  In  derision,  "It  thunders!"  But  one  day 
that  voice  will  be  heard  calmly  saying  again:  **  I 
sent  my  Son  to  you  long  ago,  and  bade  you  hear 
him  ;  why  did  you  not  listen  then  to  what  I  gave  him 
to  say?" 

We  turn  now  from  the  bright  and  beautiful  spect- 
acle of  these  Jilorificd  visitants  on  the   mount,  to  the 


"WITH    IILM    IN    THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         26 1 

somewhat  more  prosaic  picture  of  the  three  hving 
men  who  accompanied  Jesus.  Specially,  as  a  revela- 
tion of  Simon  Peter  the  rest  of  the  story  will  com- 
mand our  attention.  Three  particulars  may  be 
noted:  his  inexplicable  slumber,  his  characteristic 
presumption,  and  his  unnecessary  alarm. 

It  seems  that  during-  most  of  this  vision  all  of  the 
disciples  were  afflicted  with  a  most  unfortunate  and 
irresistible  drowsiness. 

Really,  such  an  occurrence  demands  explanation, 
which  is  not  furnished,  and  an  apology,  which  is  not 
given.  Offer  all  the  charitable  excuse  we  can — say 
this  was  near  dawn,  and  they  had  been  awake 
during  the  night — say  they  were  completely  ex- 
hausted with  a  continuous  solicitude — say  they  were 
physically  worn  out  with  daily  journeying — there  yet 
remains  the  fact  that  these  same  favored  three  per- 
sons slept  in  the  same  way  during  the  agony  in 
Gethsemane.  Whether  Jesus  suffered  or  shone,  it 
seemed  alike  nothing  to  them. 

What  a  pitiful  comment  this  makes  on  poor  weak 
human  nature.  Compare  Moses  and  Elijah  here,  at 
the  moment  when  they  came  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  with  these  fishermen  whom  they  met. 
The  celestial  beings  are  all  alive  with  activity,  fairly 
palpitating  in  their  eager  vitality ;  the  earthly  wit- 
nesses are  dull  and  heavy,  lying  in  slumberous  length 
upon  the  sward  !  How  much  these  disciples  lost 
can  never  be  known.  The  transfiguration  was  full 
in  progress  when  they  had  the  first  glimpses  of  it. 
How  long  had  those  heavenly  visitants  been  there  ? 


262  SIMON    PETER  : 

How  did  they  arrive  ?  Did  Elijah  journey  back  to 
the  earth  with  the  same  pageantry  as  he  left  it? 
Was  that  chariot  of  fire  In  the  sky  again,  and  the 
whirlwind  around  it  ?  Is  it  possible  that  Michael 
brought  back  the  body  of  Moses,  for  which,  as  Jude 
somewhat  obscurely  tells  us,  he  contended  with 
Satan  ?  The  imagination  runs  riot  when  it  conjec- 
tures what  perhaps  Peter  might  have  seen,  if  only  he 
had  been  wakeful  from  the  start. 

Sleep  is  always  a  risk  and  a  peril.  It  proves 
weakness.  He  that  keepeth  Israel  neither  slumbers 
nor  sleeps.  The  enemy  sowed  tares  while  the 
husbandman  slept.  The  bridegroom  came  and  hur- 
ried by,  while  those  foolish  virgins  were  asleep. 
SIsera  lost  his  life  when  Jael  found  his  head  on  a 
pillow.  But  spiritual  drowsiness  evidences  more 
than  mere  weakness;  it  intimates  guilt.  The  Bride 
in  the  Canticle  slept,  and  the  Spouse  forsook  her. 

Just  here  the  language  becomes  singularly  graphic. 
These  bewildered  men  appear  to  have  been  stirred 
by  such  excitement  around  them,  and  at  last  are 
thoroughly  aroused  to  look  and  to  listen.  A  swift 
moment  only  seems  to  have  been  granted  ;  for  even 
as  they  are  alertly  gazing  on  the  scene,  the  group  is 
breaking  up.  Moses  is  withdrawing,  and  Elijah  is 
on  the  wings  of  the  whirlwind  again. 

*'  And  it  came  to  pass  as  they  departed  from  him, 
Peter  said  unto  Jesus,  Master,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be 
here:  and  let  us  make  three  tabernacles;  one  for 
Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Ellas:  not 
knowing  what  he  said." 


"WITH    HIM    IN    THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         26$ 

It  is  a  comfort  to  find  that  when  Simon  was  waked 
up,  he  was  thoroughly  waked,  and  was  entering  into 
the  spirit  of  the  majestic  vision  with  intense  enthusi- 
asm of  dehght.  He  heard  their  blessed  converse, 
and  saw  their  wonderful  presence,  and  his  heart  was 
full.  The  proposal  he  made  was  that  three  tents  should 
be  erected,  and  Elijah  and  Moses  should  arrange  to 
abide  there,  and  indeed  all  that  choice  company- 
should  simply  remain  on  the  mountain.  This  sug- 
gestion was  surely  presumptuous  in  the  highest  ex- 
treme. For  it  involved.the  same  folly  of  misconcep- 
tion for  which  Peter  was  rebuked. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  disciple,  who  was  never 
specially  abashed,  did  not  dare  address  any  one  ex- 
cept Jesus  on  this  occasion.  It  was  characteristic  of 
Peter  to  think  he  must  say  something  upon  the 
point;  but  he  appears  to  have  had  a  laudable  reluc- 
tance to  put  questions  to  those  who,  as  he  had  every 
reason  to  believe,  had  come  from  the  dead.  But  we 
must  observe  what  a  singular  blending  there  is  in  his 
mind  of  ecstatic  experience  w^ith  mere  matter  of 
fact.  A  pure  unselfishness,  at  any  rate  a  fresh  self- 
forgetfulness,  shines  out  in  his  proposition.  He  was 
quietly  satisfied  to  remain  out  in  such  welcome  com- 
pany night  and  day.  John  and  James  and  himself 
desired  no  cover.  But  a  vague  thought  of  exposure 
and  discomfort  in  the  surroundings  was  mingled 
with  this  offer  of  shelter,  as  he  recollected  how  un- 
protected and  unprovided   for  they  were  on  the  hill. 

Now  we   do  not  exhaust  the  register  of  Simon's 

presumption  in  m.erely  rehearsing  the  history  of  these 
12 


264  SIMON    PETER  : 

suggestions  concerning  Jesus  and  the  two  celestial 
visitants.  He  made  also  a  fresh  suggestion  concern- 
ing himself  and  the  other  two  disciples  who  were 
with  him.  He  proposed  to  remain  where  he  was, 
because  he  was  perfectly  happy  in  such  wonderful 
companionship.  He  exclaimed  :  *'  It  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here  !"  He  wanted  to  build  some  tabernacles 
and  stay  there  on  the  mountain  indefinitely.  **  Good 
for  us  :"  yes,  but  what  for  the  world  of  woe  and  toil 
and  tears  all  around  them  ?  Oh,  no  !  there  was 
stern  work  yet  to  be  done  before  permanent  home 
could  be  found  with  the  prophets  and  the  witnesses 
of  old.  When  luxury  of  emotional  enjoyment  inter- 
feres with  necessary  toil,  it  becomes  no  more  than 
religious  dissipation. 

There  is  admonition  in  the  old  monkish  tale.  A 
recluse  had  made  it  his  prayer  that  he  might  see 
Jesus  in  person.  The  vision  came:  the  sight  filled 
his  room,  and  flooded  the  entire  space  with  luminous 
shining.  He  fell  on  his  knees.  At  that  instant  the 
clock  tolled  for  noon  and  he  must  go  forth  to  feed 
the  paupers  as  usual  at  the  gate.  Should  he  leave 
the  chamber  and  lose  the  spectacle  ?  He  went  and 
did  his  duty,  and  came  back  in  tears,  wondering 
whether  he  should  ever  dare  to  pray  again,  and 
whether  his  vision  would  ever  return.  He  was  com- 
forted and  amazed,  as  he  entered  his  cell,  to  find  the 
great  Light  waiting  for  him  yet : — 

"  Nay,  wonder  not  !"  the  Vision  said  : 
"  Because  thou  wentest  forth,  I  stayed. 
Hadst  thou  remained  to  enjoy  the  sight, 
I  would  have  taken  instant  flifjht !" 


"WITH    IIIM    IN    THE    HOLY    MOUNT."         265 

It  becomes  us  also  to  note  carefully  here  the  un- 
necessary fright  of  these  three  disciples,  before  we 
forsake  the  exposition  altogether.  The  moment 
Simon's  proposal  had  been  made  there  came  a  de- 
cided manifestation  from  heaven  itself :  "While  he 
thus  spake,  there  came  a  cloud,  and  overshadowed 
them :  and  they  feared  as  they  entered  into  the 
cloud."  Forth  from  this  cloud,  as  we  have  seen  al- 
ready, came  a  great  Voice,  attesting  the  divine 
pleasure:  "And  when  the  disciples  heard  it,  they 
fell  on  their  face,  and  were  sore  afraid.'* 

It  is  plain  that  these  men  were  frightened  at  the 
oncoming  of  that  tremendous  arch  and  canopy  of 
shadow.  The  phraseology  is  perhaps  obscure,  but 
there  is  hardly  room  for  doubting  that  the  words 
refer  to  the  entering  in  of  Moses  and  Elias,  not  of 
James  and  John  and  Peter.  They  (these  disciples) 
feared,  as  they  (the  heavenly  visitants)  entered  into 
the  cloud.  Possibly  they  all  were  for  a  single  in- 
stant enveloped  together.  The  men  trembled  at  the 
first.  The  simple  record  reads  that  they  feared  as 
they  entered  into  the  cloud,  but  not  after  they  had 
entered  in.  No  doubt  they  felt  the  mysterious 
swooping  down  upon  them  of  this  solemn  darkness, 
which  was  lit  through  all  its  thickness — a  cloud  that 
dazzled  while  it  blinded. 

In  the  rush  of  excited  feeling  they  flung  their 
faces  on  the  sward.  This  was  the  moment  for  inter- 
position ;  our  Lord  drew  near  at  once  :  "  And  Jesus 
came  and  touched  them,  and  said,  Arise,  and  be  not 
afraid.     And  suddenly,  when  they  had  looked  round 


266  SIMON  peter: 

about,  they  saw  no  man  any  more,  save  Jesus  only 
with  themselves." 

Is  not  this  just  the  rule  of  Christian  experience? 
Are  none  of  us  rebuked  by  this  story  ?  Do  we  not 
undergo  needless  alarm  as  some  cloud  of  bereave- 
ment or  trouble  spreads  its  folds  over  us  ?  A  shock 
at  the  entering  in,  but  what  right  afterwards? 
Enter,  foreboding  doom  ;  but  looking  up,  find  Jesus  ! 
Dare  darkness  for  one  moment,  then  behold  a 
Transfic^uration  ! 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FISHING   TO    PAY   TRIBUTE. 

The  reception  which  on  this  occasion  our  Lord 
with  his  disciples  meets  on  entering  Capernaum  is 
very  striking  from  the  absence  of  all  display.  No 
crowds  come  forth  into  the  street  for  gifts  of  heal- 
ing or  with  greetings  of  peace.  A  change  has 
passed  upon  the  history.  Capernaum  has  evidently 
been  growing  harder.  Spite  must  have  been  stir- 
ring up  strife.  Small  malignities  are  coming  to  the 
surface.  Townspeople  and  neighbors  are  getting 
jealous. 

For  example  :  no  sooner  was  Simon  settled  at 
home  again  than  he  began  to  be  harassed  in  regard 
to  his  money  matters.  Being  the  ostensible  house- 
holder, he  appears  to  have  been  reckoned  as  respon- 
sible for  all  the  members  of  his  family.  And  one 
day  he  found  himself  somewhat  abruptly  challenged 
with  the  implication  that  Jesus  was  neglecting  the 
dues  of  the  temple  in  a  very  mean  sort  of  way : 
**  They  that  received  tribute-money  came  to  Peter 
and  said,  Doth  not  your  master  pay  tribute  ?" 

The  rendering  in  our  version  is  a  little  unfortu- 
nate here  in  the  use  of  the  word  ''tribute."  It 
seems  to  connect  this  incident  with  that  other  in 
Jesus*  history  in  which  some  superscription  of 
Caesar's  image  upon  a  coin  plays  a  part  in  the  argu- 
ment.    But  this  was  not  a  civil  impost  at  all.     It 


26S  SIMON    PETER: 

had  nothing  to  do  with  the  imperial  government, 
but  was  one  of  the  old  theocratic  payments  of  the 
Israelite  nation,  dating  back  to  the  times  of  the  Ex- 
odus. It  will  be  of  interest  that  we  rehearse  the 
ancient  record  concerning  it : 

"And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  When 
thou  takest  the  sum  of  the  children  of  Israel,  ac- 
cording to  those  that  are  numbered  of  them,  then 
shall  they  give  every  man  a  ransom  for  his  soul  unto 
the  Lord,  when  thou  numberest  them  ;  that  there 
be  no  plague  among  them,  when  thou  numberest 
them.  This  they  shall  give,  every  one  that  passeth 
over  unto  them  that  are  numbered,  half  a  shekel 
after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary :  (the  shekel  is 
twenty  gerahs  :)  half  a  shekel  for  an  offering  to  the 
Lord.  Every  one  that  passeth  over  unto  them  that 
are  numbered,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward, 
shall  give  the  offering  of  the  Lord.  The  rich  shall 
not  give  more,  and  the  poor  shall  not  give  less,  than 
the  half  shekel,  when  they  give  the  offering  of  the 
Lord,  to  make  atonement  for  your  souls.  And  thou 
shalt  take  the  atonement  money  from  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  shalt  appoint  it  for  the  service  of  the 
tent  of  meeting;  that  it  may  be  a  memorial  for  the 
children  of  Israel  before  the  Lord,  to  make  atone- 
ment for  your  souls." 

So  we  see  that  these  people  who  made  such  de- 
mand upon  Simon  were  not  Roman  tax-gatherers, 
but  only  ordinary  collectors  of  this  Jewish  contri- 
bution for  religious  services.  Even  Augustine 
glides  into  the  singular  mistake  of  connecting  this 


FISHING   TO    PAY    TRIBUTE.  269 

incident  with  the  precept,  "  Render  tribute  to  whom 
tribute  Is  due." 

The  Rabbins  give  us  some  particulars  concerning 
this  toll  as  customs  had  finally  settled  it.  It  was  to 
be  paid  over  the  whole  world  by  every  Israelite  who 
had  reached  the  age  of  twenty  years.  Its  purpose 
was  to  meet  the  running  expenses  of  the  temple 
worship,  and  it  was  used  in  purchasing  incense, 
show-bread,  wood  for  the  ordinary  fires  of  morning 
and  evening  sacrifices,  red-heifers,  scapegoats,  and 
all  the  miscellaneous  need  for  the  services.  Such 
an  amount — about  thirty  cents  of  our  money  to  each 
man — would  yearly  produce  extraordinary  incomes 
in  the  aggregate;  and  these  were  generally  con- 
veyed to  Jerusalem  by  persons  standing  in  great 
honor  in  the  countries  where  they  were  levied.  The 
taxes  were  payable  each  twelvemonth,  about  the 
time  of  thepassover;  but  in  individual  cases  they 
often  ran  behindhand.  It  is  said  that  the  official  re- 
ceivers were  accustomed  to  set  two  chests  before 
them,  one  to  hold  contributions  for  the  current  year, 
the  other  to  take  in  the  arrearages  of  years  that 
were  past.  For  there  was  no  power  beyond  ortho- 
dox public  sentiment  to  compel  payment  of  this 
atonement-money  to  the  collectors  from  any  persons 
who  neglected  or  refused  it.  That  poor  nation  knew 
that  generosity  then  was  a  voluntary  virtue. 

But  about  the  time  of  this  occurrence,  as  we  learn 
from  one  of  the  Jewish  annalists,  there  had  been  a 
fierce  and  famous  controversy  between  the  Pharisees 
and  Sadducces  upon   this  point.     The   disputatious 


2/0  SIMON  peter: 

Pharisees  claimed  that  the  regular  rendering  of  this 
theocratic  half-shekel  Impost  should  be  made  com- 
pulsory ;  but  the  easy-going  Sadducees  denied  all 
authority  for  enforcing  It,  and  pressed  the  consider- 
ation that  all  contributions  for  God's  service  were 
absolutely  good  for  nothing  unless  they  were  en- 
tirely free-will. 

And  the  record  runs  that  the  Pharisees  had  car- 
ried the  day  In  the  dispute.  So  the  question  which 
Capernaum  people  put  to  Simon  was  equivalent  to 
the  inquiry  whether  Jesus  proposed  to  take  sides 
with  the  Sadducees,  and  thus  decline  the  pa3^ment 
altogether;  for  It  is  assumed  in  their  words  that  our 
Lord  was  behindhand   already. 

One  thing  Is  very  noticeable  here.  Eminent 
teachers  of  their  law,  as  well  as  priests.  It  had  al- 
ways been  owned,  were  exempted  from  this  impo- 
sition. Hitherto  the  inhabitants  of  that  privileged 
town  had  not  denied  to  Jesus  even  the  most  ele- 
vated recognition.  There  was  more  than  one  day 
in  Capernaum's  history  when  at  Simon's  hospitable 
door  "  all  the  city  was  gathered  together."  No 
honor  the  people  could  render  was  deemed  too  good 
for  this  young  and  miracle-working  rabbi.  It  was 
one  glad  cry  among  them,  as  they  were  amazed  at 
his  deeds  and  at  his  doctrines  alike :  ''  We  never  saw 
it  on  this  fashion."  In  his  absence  the  popular  wind 
of  fame  had  shifted  into  another  quarter.  Capernaum, 
exalted  to  heaven,  was  now  getting  ready  to  be  cast 
down  into  hell.  The  coarse  minds  thought  the  day 
had  arrived  now  for  this  so-called  prophet  to  begin 


FISHING   TO    PAY   TRIBUTE.  2/ 1 

to  settle  his  rates.  Questions  of  contribution  admit 
of  no  favor.  The  only  remnant  of  reverence  we  can 
detect  is  found  in  the  fact  that  they  put  the  question 
to  Simon  instead  of  Jesus.  For  this  shows  that 
there  were  some  who  retained  a  somewhat  salutary 
awe  of  our  Lord  still. 

Simon  answers  with  his  usual  promptness  :  "  He 
saith,  Yes."  He  accepts  without  any  objection  the 
implication  that  he  was  a  servant,  and  Jesus  was  his 
master:  ''Doth  not  your  master  pay  the  double- 
drachma  ?"  Without  an  instant's  hesitation,  he  re- 
plies, as  if  repelling  an  insinuation:  *'  Of  course  he 
docs." 

We  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  this  dis- 
ciple made  a  mistake  in  thus  pledging  Jesus  to  any 
Jewish  observance  without  previously  consulting 
him  ;  but  no  one  can  have  the  heart  to  censure  an 
answer  so  honest,  when  he  remembers  the  motive 
which  prompted  this  amiable  haste.  Most  admir- 
able is  Peter's  solicitude  lest  the  name  of  his  Lord 
should  be  reproached.  The  church,  even  in  our 
time  of  conspicuous  coldness,  would  stand  better 
before  the  world  if  each  of  us  were  only  equally 
jealous  with  a  great  jealousy  for  the  fame  of  the 
cause  and  the  kingdom  of  the  risen  Redeemer. 

Still,  it  seems  probable  that  this  friend  of  Jesus 
afterwards  had  his  doubts  about  the  prudence  of 
the  rejoinder  he  had  made.  A  misgiving  may  even 
have  arisen,  in  the  narrowness  of  their  finances,  as  to 
the  possible  payment  of  such  a  sum ;  but  more 
likely  he   grew  embarrassed   with  the  fear  that  he 


2/2  SIMON    PETER: 

might  have  compromised  his  great  Master's  position. 
Just  at  this  point  we  are  interested  to  discover  a  fine 
illustrative  proof  of  Jesus'  minute  omniscience ;  for, 
as  Simon  entered,  he  instantly  showed  by  com- 
mencing the  conversation  that  he  was  acquainted 
with  all  that  had  passed  in  the  street.  "  And  when 
he  was  come  into  the  house,  Jesus  prevented  him, 
saying,  What  thinkest  thou,  Simon  ?  of  whom  do 
the  kings  of  the  earth  take  custom  or  tribute  ?  of 
their  own  children,  or  of  strangers  ?" 

Martin  Luther,  in  some  very  interesting  com- 
ments upon  this  interview,  calls  attention  to  the 
frank  and  friendly  way  in  which  Jesus  administered 
the  needed  corrective  to  his  hasty  host.  It  puts 
before  our  imaginations  the  line  terms  of  pleasant 
familiarity  on  which  they  stood.  This  word  '*  pre- 
vented "  in  our  version  means  only  anticipated; 
Simon  was  going  to  speak,  but  Jesus  spoke  before  a 
word  had  fallen  from  him.  Then  the  conversation 
runs  easily  on. 

"Do  monarchs  at  the  head  of  human  govern- 
ments collect  their  customs  on  imports,  or  their 
tributes  for  privileges,  from  the  members  of  the 
royal  family,  or  from  other  people  ?"  Peter  saith 
unto  him,  ''  Of  strangers."  '*  Then  are  the  children 
free,"  Jesus  replies  to  him. 

To  this  statement  the  disciple  had  only  one 
answer  to  return.  Kings  never  tax  their  sons  for 
ordinary  revenues.  Then  Jesus  passed  the  illus- 
tration over  instantly  to  the  case  in  hand  :  ''  I  am  a 
son  of  the  King  of  kings ;  the  toll  which   these  col- 


WISHING   TO    PAY    TiaBUTE.  273 

lectors  are  demanding  is  asked  for  God's  sake  as 
earthly  tributes  are  asked  for  princes'  sake  ;  I,  there- 
fore, am  not  bound  to  pay  it;  children — certainly, 
royal  children — are  free  !" 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  our  Lord  includes  his 
disciples  in  these  statements  likewise  ;  for  he  uses 
*' children  "  in  the  plural  number,  although  we  are 
told  again  and  again  Christ  was  the  "  only  begotten 
Son  "  of  the  Highest.  Moreover,  he  proceeds  at 
once  to  a  plan  which  shall  make  provision  on  the 
same  basis  for  Simon  as  for  himself,  as  if  both  were 
alike  free.  So  he  avows  the  grand  principle  that 
among  Christians  all  gospel  privileges  should  be 
paid  for  voluntarily,  and  never  of  constraint.  "  Libcri 
sunt  liberie 

There  can  be  no  reason  for  mistaking  our  lesson 
in  this  declaration.  It  is  aimed  directly  against  all 
systems  of  union  between  Church  and  State  which 
force  the  believing  people  to  sustain  the  institutions 
of  religion  by  legal  constraint.  All  church-rates 
necessary  for  support  of  worship  should  be  entirely 
free-will. 

So  Simon  was  corrected  at  once,  and  must  have 
seen  in  one  instant  flash  of  discovery  that  he  had 
gone  too  far  in  committing  Jesus  to  pay  the  Phari- 
sees' tax.  Still,  it  gives  us  surprise  now  to  find  such 
an  emphatic  denial  of  this  imposition  followed,  as  it 
is  in  the  story,  by  an  acquiescence  immediate  and 
unreserved. 

A  complete  reversal  of  decision  is  announced 
though  based  upon  an  entirely  new  consideration. 


274  SIMOxNJ    PETER  : 

Jesus  says  he  judges  it  best  to  start  no  scandal; 
the  matter  is  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  insist 
upon  ;  he  does  not  propose  to  make  a  stand  on  his 
rights  with  any  undue  stress.  He  intimates,  how- 
ever, that  Simon's  toll  shall  be  paid  as  well  as  his 
own;  but  not  because  of  an  inherent  justice  in  the 
demand — only  because  of  the  expediency  of  compli- 
ance. He  desires  to  propitiate  the  feelings  of  the 
populace,  and  not  needlessly  to  arouse  animosity  or 
provoke  prejudice.  Then  he  turns  to  this  fisherman, 
rapidly  unfolding  his  project:  ''Notwithstanding, 
lest  we  should  offend  them,  go  thou  to  the  sea,  and 
cast  an  hook,  and  take  up  the  fish  that  first  cometh 
up ;  and  when  thou  hast  opened  his  mouth,  thou 
shalt  find  a  piece  of  money;  that  take,  and  give  unto 
them  for  me  and  thee." 

Now  we  ought  to  notice  the  exquisite  delicacy 
with  which  this  only  true  Son  of  God,  the  Lord  of 
Glory,  manages  the  admission,  so  remarkable  in  its 
condescension,  that  all  Christians  are  to  be  summar- 
ily reckoned  with  himself  in  this  spiritual  freedom 
as  children,  and  yet  preserves  his  own  majesty  from 
too  close  a  familiarity.  He  does  not  say,  ''  Give 
them  this  money  for  ?/^.-"  but  he  says,  *'  Give  them 
for  me — and  thee."  While  he  counts  them  as  one 
with  him  in  the  freedom,  he  does  not  admit  that 
they  are  equal  with  him  in  the  sonship  ;  he  makes 
them  remember  that  there  is  a  distinction. 

And,  as  if  to  render  that  distinction  the  more  evi- 
dent, this  divine  Master  proceeds  to  work  a  miracle 
in  the  line  of  Simon's  ancient  profession.     Which 


FISHING   TO    PAY    TRIBUTE.  Z^^ 

miracle  is  remarkable  for  two  particulars :  it  is  the 
only  one  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  which 
Christ  was  known  to  work  for  his  own  benefit ;  and 
it  is  the  only  one  which  is  left  without  a  record  of 
its  accomplishment — being  given  to  us  simply  as  a 
command,  with  its  details  unindicated  and  undc- 
scribed. 

Christ  bids  his  disciple  go  out  on  the  lake,  not 
with  a  seine  but  a  hook,  and  when  the  first  fish 
should  come  up  out  of  the  deep  water  he  should 
open  its  mouth,  and  there  he  would  discover  a  Ro- 
man coin  of  the  exact  value  of  those  two  half-shek- 
els which  were  now  claimed  by  the  Capernaum 
people  as  due  to  the  temple  collectors. 

It  seems  hardly  worth  while  to  dwell  upon  the  ab- 
surd attempts  which  have  been  made  to  rationalize 
away  this  part  of  the  inspired  record.  It  is  abrupt- 
ly denied  by  some  that  any  miracle  was  actually 
wrought  after  all.  And  indeed,  so  much  as  this  is 
true  :  in  not  another  instance  of  our  Lord's  history 
do  v/e  find  him  issuing  such  a  command  with  no 
subsequent  account  of  the  result.  But  surely,  a  con- 
versation like  this  would  have  reached  a  most  lame 
and  impotent  conclusion  if  everything  ended  where 
the  chapter  leaves  it.  With  the  infinite  God,  how- 
ever, we  may  say  to  command  is  to  perform. 

Then,  too,  the  sneer  of  Paulus  that  miracles  must 
have  cheapened  if  Jesus  would  work  one  for  half-a- 
crown,  will  have  to  be  patiently  laid  alongside  of  the 
puerile  conjecture  that  what  was  proposed  and  what 
is  meant  is  this — Simon  must  go  and  catch  the  fish, 


2/6  SIIvION   teter: 

and  then  open  his  own  mouth  ;  that  is,  he  must  cry 
the  fish  for  pubhc  sale  in  the  market  and  so  earn  the 
shekel — a  most  extraordinary  price,  by  the  way,  in 
those  times  for  any  fish  that  could  be  captured  and 
pulled  in  with  a  hook.  So  with  the  cavil  of  another 
anxious  critic,  who  says  that  Jesus  was  simply  play- 
ful and  sarcastic  with  his  heedless  disciple,  and 
intended  to  admonish  him  in  a  pleasant  and  even  jo- 
cose manner  that  he  had  run  before  he  was  sent : 

"  As  you  have  committed  me  with  a  blunder,  you 
might  as  well  go  now  and  relieve  me  with  a  wonder. 
You  did  a  presumptuous  thing  easily ;  let  us  see 
you  try  your  hand  at  one  that  is  impossible  !  " 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  nonsense  the  only  com- 
ment that  can  be  treated  seriously  is  this — fishes  do 
often  swallow  bright  articles,  and  a  silver  coin  was 
just  about  the  size  and  the  brilliance  to  prove  at- 
tractive near  the  shore  of  the  lake.  It  is  not  easy 
to  see  where  any  harm  would  come  from  admitting 
this  conjecture,  if  a  disturbed  heart  should  deem  it 
any  better  than  the  supposition  that  Christ  created 
the  money  where  it  was  found.  Then  the  miracle, 
as  it  stands,  would  consist  in  the  six  particulars 
which  the  pious  Bengel  enumerates:  '' I.  That 
something  shall  be  caught — 2.  And  that  quickly — 
3.  There  shall  be  money  in  a  fish — 4.  And  that 
found  in  the  fish's  mouth — 5.  The  sum  shall  be  just 
what  is  needed — 6.  And  that  it  shall  be  a  Roman 
coin  made  out  of  silver." 

From  this  point  in  the  story  everything  is  now  left 
to  the  imamnation  of  each  devout  reader.    Simon  had 


FISHING   TO    PAY    TRIBUTE.  277 

already  been  with  Jesus  too  long  to  distrust  his  di- 
vine power  in  an  exigency  like  this.  There  must 
have  been  something  exceedingly  impressive  in  the 
quick  acquiescence  of  his  faith.  One  would  like  to 
witness  such  a  scene  from  the  first  preparation  to  the 
final  result.  Very  singular  must  have  been  the  feel- 
ing of  Simon  Peter  on  his  way  to  the  beach  alone, 
taking  some  old  rod  and  line  that  knew  his  hand  the 
best,  and  pushing  off  in  some  boat  which  had  more 
than  once  felt  the  spring  from  his  oars  in  the  days 
gone  by.  Out  on  the  placid  water  at  last,  he  must 
have  experienced  a  solemn  sense  of  awe  as  he  flung 
his  glance  across  the  surface  of  that  sea,  conscious 
that  somewhere  in  its  serene  depth  there  must  be 
one  inarticulate  creature  working  its  way  towards 
his  hook  in  unconcerned  obedience  to  divine  com- 
mand. 

Over  went  the  line,  and  the  first  cast  brought  the 
anticipated  prey.  Eager  and  trembling  Simon's 
hands  must  have  been,  in  the  excited  instant  when 
he  forced  open  the  jaws  to  search  for  the  promised 
piece  of  silver.  With  what  inexpressible  emotion 
would  this  man  remove  that  glittering  coin — bearing 
its  quaint  image  of  the  helmeted  head  on  its  surface, 
and  the  old  rude  letters  on  the  obverse.  It  does  not 
appear  as  if  there  could  be  a  more  appropriate  ex- 
clamation for  him  to  make  than  that  which  he  had 
had  occasion  with  the  others  of  his  astonished  friends 
to  utter  once  before,  when  on  this  same  sheet  of 
water :  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the 
sea  obeys  him  !" 


2"]^  SIMON    PETER: 

Here  Is  afforded  one  of  the  finest  illustrations  con- 
ceivable of  the  Lord's  supremacy.  He  submitted  to 
the  imposed  taxes  of  the  Pharisees  in  order  to  teach 
to  all  ages  the  lesson  that  Christian  liberty  should 
sometimes  be  limited  by  a  regard  for  the  good  of 
irreligious  men  around  us:  *'  Lest  we  should  offend 
them."  But  this  he  did  in  such  a  way  as  to  preserve 
his  majesty  unsullied.  He  condescended  to  touch  a 
human  toll,  but  his  fingers  were  clothed  with  om- 
nipotence when  they  came  in  contact  with  the  silver 
coin. 

Simon  knew  what  fishing  in  Lake  Gennesaret 
meant;  and  we  may  be  sure  he  had  learned  at  the 
last  that  Jesus  was  indeed  what  even  his  own  words 
at  Csesarca  Phllippi  had  admitted  him  to  be — what 
a  wide  Christendom  has  confessed  since — "■  the  Son 
of  the  living  God." 

Then,  too,  this  incident  affords  a  fine  example  of 
our  Lord's  omnipotent  sway  in  the  kingdom  of  na- 
ture even  to  its  uttermost  limits.  For  the  time  being, 
the  spoken  word  of  this  King  of  the  kingdom  of 
truth  was  hidden  in  the  mouth  of  an  uncaught  fish. 
The  stability  of  the  Messiahship  rested  upon  the 
fickle  movements  of  this  most  agile  and  most  uncer- 
tain of  all  the  creatures  of  God.  Just  a  half-mile  of 
swimming  less  or  more  in  the  twelve  miles  length 
of  that  inland  sea  would  have  put  eternal  veracity 
in  peril.  An  hour  earlier  or  later — one  fish  more 
expeditious  in  arriving  at  this  hook  than  another — 
a  slight  mistake  in  the  mere  mechanical  knack  of 
angling — would    have    sent    Simon    Peter  home  to 


FISIIIXG   TO    TAY   TRIBUTE.  279 

Capernaum  a  disappointed,  doubting  man.     Talk  to 
him  about  fishing  to  pay  tribute — let  critics  tell  him 

that  these  creatures  often  swallow   bright  things 

and  most  likely  in  his  business-like  way  he  would 
answer : 

**  Very  well ;  but  this  w^as  the  first  one  of  that  kind 
I  myself  ever  caught  which  did  it.  Perhaps  some 
other  fisherman  here  in  Galilee  would  like  to  go  out 
and  do  the  same  thing  over  now  !" 

To  one  who,  in  despite  of  all  its  confusions, 
thoroughly  understands  it,  what  an  orderly  universe 
this  of  ours  must  always  appear  to  be  !  A  most 
graphic  picture  of  the  subordination  of  the  races  and 
species  is  that  which  here  rises  upon  our  imagina- 
tions. A  fish — one  poor  little  fish — for  a  moment, 
stands  in  the  cycle  of  eternal  history.  It  surrenders 
its  life  on  an  issue  between  Pharisees  and  Sadducces 
about  temple-taxes  !  Round  and  round  in  the  famil- 
iar waters  of  the  lake  it  may  have  gone  a  myriad  of 
times  before  this;  never,  however,  until  now  would 
any  special  interest  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  depend 
upon  the  punctual  accuracy  of  its  arrival  at  the  side 
of  Simon's  boat;  to-day  it  must  come  up  exactly! 

Such  an  incident  is  calculated  to  hold  the  popular 
mind  firmly  through  all  the  ages.  Even  to  this  day  in 
the  East  men  catch  a  sort  of  prey  which  they  call 
"  Saint  Peter's  fish " — the  dore,  taking  its  name 
from  the  French  word  which  means  tvorshipped — 
bearing  like  the  haddock,  just  under  its  gills,  the 
dark  marks  (so  the  villagers  fable)  of  the  apostle's 
thumb  and  finger  as  he  was   supposed  to  grasp  it 


28o  SIMON  peter: 

roughly  In  order  to  extract  the  silver  coin.  This  is 
of  course  only  a  folly  of  superstition  ;  but  it  evid- 
ences that  the  miracle  has  fastened  Itself  In  the  notice 
of  the  common  people. 

Nor  is  this  attribute  of  omnipotence  alone  exhib- 
ited here;  omniscience  also  is  suggested.  We  have 
already  remarked  that  Christ  seems  to  have  known 
all  that  was  passing  in  the  street  while  Simon  and 
the  neighbors  were  holding  their  conversation. 
And  now  we  see  that  the  lofty  and  the  lowly  are  to- 
gether under  the  same  divine  observation.  The  min- 
now In  the  lake,  and  the  apostle  in  the  town,  alike 
are  within  the  same  reach  of  a  constant  survey.  In 
this  very  moment  when  Jesus  was  surprising  Simon 
with  the  disclosure  that  he  perceived  his  thoughts, 
he  was  sweeping  the  hand  of  his  divinity  among  the 
far-off  waters  of  that  Capernaum  fishing-ground 
with  his  beckoning  gesture  for  one  special  finny 
creature  he  was  acquainted  with  to  come  swiftly  up 
now  with  the  vaster  surprise  of  a  miracle  in  its 
mouth.  We  never  know  exactly  whose  history  our 
lives  might  be  writing,  nor  exactly  what  life  of  man 
or  fish  is  writing  ours! 

Perhaps  It  Is  well  to  dismiss  this  part  of  the  record 
with   an   early  recognition  of  Its   main   Instruction. 

Our  Lord  must  have  had  one  explicit  purpose  In 
his  action  on  this  occasion.  And  his  example  bears 
with  great  force  upon  the  doctrine  of  Christian  ex- 
pediency. The  structure  of  the  question  put  to 
Simon  Peter  appears  weak,  querulous,  even  timid. 
These  Jewish  collectors  do  not  exhibit  a  temper  like 


FISHING   TO    PAY    TRIBUTE.  28 1 

that  of  a  Roman  publican  rudely  demanding  tribute. 
If  Jesus  had  refused  to  pay  the  money,  they  had  no 
pressure  to  bring  to  bear.  They  could  only  call 
him  a  recreant  Israelite.  But  our  Saviour  wrought 
this  miracle  lest  even  a  toll-gatherer  should  carp  at 
the  free  gospel  he  came  to  proclaim.  It  was  lawful 
for  him  to  decline  the  tax  ;  but  he  did  not  deem  It 
expedient  to  do  so. 

Thus  we  reach  the  principle.  He  enunciated  the 
same  when  he  came  to  Jordan  to  be  baptized:  ''Thus 
it  becometh  us  to  fufil  all  righteousness."  This  half- 
shekel  was  called  "  an  atonement  money  for  sin  ;  " 
and  though  he  had  no  sin,  he  paid  the  ransom  for 
his  undefiled  soul  like  one  of  the  sinners  he  came  to 
redeem.  For  he  desired  to  show  to  the  ages  that  he 
never  used  his  liberty,  nor  suffered  his  followers  to 
use  theirs,  "for  a  cloak  of  maliciousness." 

So  our  lesson  is  simple.  We  must  not  let  our 
*'good  be  evil  spoken  of"  by  reason  of  supercilious- 
ness in  disregard  of  others'  prejudices.  Better  for 
us  to  suffer  inconvenience  and  humiliation  than 
wound  one  for  whom  it  is  possible  Christ  may  have 
died. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  TRUE  DOCTRINE  OF  FORGIVENESS. 

In  the  company  of  his  Lord,  Simon  Peter  had 
just  now  tediously  come  across  the  country,  down 
from  northern  Palestine,  to  his  established  home 
beside  the  sea  of  Tiberias.  From  one  suggestive 
expression  employed  by  the  evangelist  Mark,  who 
alone  uses  it,  we  infer  that  this  disciple's  mind  had 
been  very  unpleasantly  arrested  by  an  awkward 
tameness  and  seclusion  in  the  journey  back  from 
Caesarea  Philippi.  While  Jesus  was  passing  through 
that  region,  we  are  told  he  ''would  not  that  any  man 
should  know  it."  This  Simon  Peter  evidently  dis- 
relished. 

Moreover,  our  Lord  occupied  the  time  in  con- 
versation upon  themes  especially  distasteful  to  some 
of  those  who  followed  him.  P^or  he  openly  crossed 
their  hopes.  He  told  them  all,  in  a  way  which  to 
Simon  Peter  at  least  seemed  unnecessarily  melan- 
choly, that  the  Son  of  Man  must  suffer  and  be 
rejected,  must  be  delivered  up  and  killed,  and  this 
before  many  days  should  pass. 

This  disciple  never  did  like  such  pensive  inter- 
views in  private  life.  He  preferred  the  crowds  and 
the  excitement  when  the  common  people  stirred  in 
the  villages  at  their  arrivals  or  came  forth  to  meet 
them  in  the  roads,  thus  rendering  their  ordinary  tours 


THE    TRUE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORGIVENESS.     2S3 

across  the  country  frequently  a  sort  of  pageant. 
Such  a  solemn  traverse,  with  only  lonely  revelations 
of  coming  disaster  for  a  meditation,  most  likely  ex- 
asperated Peter,  and  reminded  him  of  the  rebuke  he 
had  received  on  the  occasion  of  his  chiding  Jesus  for 
what  he  considered  undue  depression.  We  can  im- 
agine that  he  was  quite  glad  to  find  himself  once 
more  among  the  curious  fishmongers  and  the 
admiring  gossips  of  Capernaum.  Not  even  the 
wonderful  disclosures  of  that  scene  on  the  transfigur- 
ation mountain  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  to  raise 
his  unusual  heaviness  of  spirits;  he  came  home  half 
discouraged. 

But  even  here  he  received  a  new  check.  His 
townsmen  gave  his  company  a  far  cooler  reception 
than  he  expected.  This  disturbed  his  mind  with  addi- 
tional annoyances.  There  can  be  suggested  no  reason 
for  discrediting  the  generally-entertained  belief  con- 
cerning this  period  in  Christ's  life;  it  is  assumed  as 
true  that  he  was  accustomed,  whenever  he  lingered 
in  the  vicinity,  to  share  the  accommodations  of  Peter 
in  the  city  and  remain  under  his  roof  The  miracle 
of  healing  which  had  been  wrought  upon  his  wife's 
mother,  when  she  was  recovered  from  her  fever, 
would  surely  render  Jesus  a  welcome  guest.  The 
gratitude  of  both  women  would  make  it  easy  for 
them  to  obey  an  injunction  which  came  later  on : 
**Use  hospitality  without  grudging;"  for  they  would 
cherish  a  companionship  that  saved  life. 

But  something  must  have  happened  to  sour 
Simon's  temper  more  and  more;    for  his  questions 


284  SIMON    PETER  : 

grow  abrupt,  and  show  the  uneasy  workings  of  an 
aroused  and  unamlable  spirit.  For  example,  he 
came  one  day  to  Jesus  and  asked  with  frankest 
directness:  ''Lord,  how  oft  shall  my  brother  sin 
against  me,  and  I  forgive  him?  till  seven  times?" 
Jesus  salth  unto  him,  "  I  say  not  unto  thee,  Until 
seven  times;  but,  Until  seventy  times  seven." 

He  was  thoroughly  provoked.  His  meaning  In 
pressing  such  inquiries  is  unmistakable.  He  could 
not  get  over  the  state  of  hurt  feeling  into  which  the 
demand  for  the  tribute-money  from  Jesus  had  thrown 
him.  He  petulantly  demands  what  shall  be  under- 
stood as  the  limit  of  forbearance  with  such  people 
for  a  truly  godly  man  in  his  times  of  excessive  exas- 
peration. ''About  how  much  of  this  sort  of  thing 
are  Christian  men  expected  ordinarily  to  stand  ?" 
Jesus  replied  to  him  out  of  the  depth  of  a  novel  and 
far-reaching  principle,  overthrowing  all  the  settled 
past  reckoning  of  the  ages  in  which  Moses'  law  had 
prevailed. 

It  becomes  vital  to  our  purposes  of  present  study 
that  we  see  plainly  the  mood  of  mind  out  of  which 
Simon's  suggestion  of  "seven  times"  as  a  measure 
of  endurance  could  go.  But  we  should  make  a  vast 
mistake  if  we  simply  discharge  the  meaning  of  his 
question  upon  a  flitting  flash  of  wrath  which  for  a 
passionate  hour  provoked  him.  We  shall  appreciate 
both  the  inquiry  and  its  answer  better  If  we  keep  In 
memory  the  temper  of  the  times  in  which  all  these 
men  had  been  reared.  One  word  of  description  will 
put  before  us  the  principle  of  the  dispensation  out 


THE    TRUE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORGIVENESS.     285 

from  which  the  question  of  this  excited  disciple  rose. 
Men  had  for  almost  sixteen  centuries  been  livino" 
under  the  law  of  retaliation.  Pay  off  your  enemy  in 
kind — this  had  been  an  old  and  recognized  rule  for 
the  whole  generations  past  since  a  great  prophet- 
leader  had  written  the  Pentateuch ;  and  this  Israel 
had  accepted  as  fixed  for  fifteen  hundred  years 
before  this  simple-minded  fisherman  Simon  Peter 
had  been  born.  Moses  had  left  on  record  these 
significant  and  specific  enactments:  "Thou  shalt 
give  life  for  life,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand 
for  hand,  foot  for  foot,  burning  for  burning,  wound 
for  wound,  stripe  for  stripe."  ''And  thine  eye  shall 
not  pity;  but  life  shall  go  for  life,  eye  for  eye,  toolh 
for  tooth,  hand  for  hand,  foot  for  foot." 

This  is  what  has  been  termed  the  ^'  lex  talionis." 
And  it  certainly  has  had  a  vast  array  of  natural  ad- 
vantages to  it,  or  the  world  would  never  have  used 
it  so  much.  It  is  so  customary  lately  to  deride  the 
ancient  system  of  Moses,  that  a  fair  review  of  the 
great  benefits  it  brought,  the  utilities  it  exhibited, 
and  the  services  it  rendered,  might  well  be  in  order 
now  and  then.  The  law  of  retaliation  was  singularly 
helpful  and  effective  ;  it  is  the  easiest  in  application 
known  to  men. 

I.  For  example,  it  met  all  peoples'  notion  of  a 
swift  convenience.  It  seemed  to  require  no  expen- 
sive and  cumbersome  machinery  of  court  routine,  as 
would  every  other  system  of  administration  of  jus- 
tice. For  it  constituted  every  man  his  own  judge, 
jury,  and  sheriff.      He  look  his  case  instant!}'  in  hand, 


286  SIMON  teter: 

without  troubling  his   neighbors  to  waste  time  with 
tribunals. 

2.  Then  again,  It  met  all  men's  considerations  of 
equity.  It  looked  eminently  fair  and  just.  A  com- 
plete balance  was  instantly  struck.  The  requital  it 
proposed  was  the  same  in  kind  and  measure.  A 
blinded  man  put  a  bandage  over  his  own  eye  as  he 
started  out  vigorously  with  a  beam  in  his  hand  to 
put  squarely  into  his  antagonist's  eye.  A  limping 
traveler  smote  an  exposed  sinew  on  the  limb  of  the 
one  who  had  wounded  him,  and  as  they  both 
dragged  themselves  around  afterwards  the  neigh- 
bors perceived  that  the  first  man  had  a  maimed  sort 
of  comxfort. 

3.  It  met  all  men's  ideas  of  necessary  retribution. 
Go  where  we  will,  we  shall  find  the  same  impress  of 
conviction  in  the  human  heart — wrong  merits  judg- 
ment; the  criminal  ought  In  no  instance  to  escape 
free  from  the  legitimate  consequences  of  any  act  of 
violence  he  may  have  committed ;  be  It  what  it  may,  he 
should  beforced  to  suffer  the  penalty  due  to  the  clime. 

For  such  reasons  the  law  of  retaliation  has  natur- 
ally become  the  recognized  primary  law  for  all 
nations  and  communities  when  first  compacted  Into 
organized  society.  It  has  sometimes  been  rough  In 
its  application,  but  the  instincts  of  mankind  at  large 
have  turned  to  It  until  it  could  be  supplanted  by 
something  milder,  safer,  and  better.  For  it  will  be 
sure  to  show  Its  disadvantages  almost  immediately. 
Sober  second  thought  always  discovers  inevitable 
misfortunes  in  Its  last  results. 


THE  TRUE  DOCTRINE  OF  FORGIVENESS.  28/ 

I.  To  begin  with,  it  perpetuated  wrong,  instead 
of  relieving  it.  Everybody  knows  how  some  clans 
and  tribes  in  history  have  taken  up  each  other's 
quarrels.  He  who  had  lost  a  relation  in  war  or  by 
assassination  felt  it  to  be  his  duty,  and  a  harsh  pub- 
lic sentiment  held  him  up  to  it,  to  pursue  the  family 
of  the  destroyer  through  the  generations.  That, 
however,  did  not  help  anything ;  it  simply  kept  the 
whole  community  in  a  state  of  chronic  fight  and 
restless  entanglements. 

2.  It  excited  malevolence  in  all  hearts.  Increas- 
ing bad  passions,  it  perverted  vengeance  into  re- 
venge. There  is  a  difference  world-wide  between 
this  hot  violence  of  an  avenger  of  blood  and  the 
cool,  collected,  and  calm  infliction  of  a  recognized 
penalty,  under  a  majestic  sanction  of  social  authority, 
by  a  responsible  officer  of  the  law.  A  sheriff  may 
shudder,  and  a  judge  may  weep,  and  the  discipline 
may  render  each  more  charitable  to  his  fellow-men. 
But  in  times  of  retaliation  the  feuds  openly  grew 
fiercer;  men  in  pursuit  of  blood  became  savage  and 
abased  themselves  to  the  level  of  the  most  brutal  of 
beasts. 

3.  It  proved  unfair  in  each  administration.  The 
man  who  is  injured  is  the  poorest  sort  of  a  judge  to 
decide  concerning  the  amount  of  his  own  wrong.  Of 
course,  he  is  the  likeliest  individual  in  the  world  to 
err  in  the  register  of  reprisal.  Life  for  life — yes  : 
but  one  life  is  worth  more  than  another  under  cer- 
tain circumstances.  An  eye  is  not  always  an  eye  in 
each  and  every  case  alike ;  suppose  a  man  has  only 
^3 


2SS  SIMON    PETER  : 

one  eye  left !  Moreover,  I  admit  I  am  under  preju- 
dice somewhat  as  to  my  particular  teeth  and  hands. 
To  me  they  seem  inevitably  more  valuable  than 
yours.  Thus  always  we  may  unconsciously  over- 
estimate our  neighbor's  trespasses,  and  underrate  his 
rights.  False  standards  are  set  up.  Personal  feel- 
ing blinds  our  judgment.  We  claim  an  unjust  meas- 
ure when  we  appear  to  claim  only  what  we  lost. 

4.  It  left  out  of  hope  and  reach  all  reconciliation 
to  be  effected  between  the  belligerent  parties.  Re- 
taliation allows  no  provision  for  the  reclamation  of  an 
offender;  it  shows  never  a  way  for  the  restitution  of 
the  wrong.  It  acts  to  render  the  whole  matter  worse 
in  every  aspect.  Standing  armies,  picket  fences, 
and  spring-guns  all  grow  out  of  it.  For  perpetual 
investment  and  regular  siege  becomes  the  rule  of 
social  life  ;  the  community  remains  rude,  unsettled, 
and  never  seems  tranquil  enough  to  be  safe.  Peace- 
able people  suffer  from  others'  fights. 

5.  Most  of  all,  it  used  up  material  with  uttermost 
recklessness  of  destruction.  It  wasted  valuable  men, 
and  ruinously  exhausted  the  products  of  human 
labor.  To  maim  a  workingman  was  bad  enough ; 
but  to  go  and  maim  another  was  the  foolishest  and 
most  pitiful  sort  of  way  to  clear  up  the  loss.  Burn- 
ing one  dwelling  because  another  had  been  burnt, 
reckoned  two  less  homes  in  the  shelter  of  which 
peace  might  dwell  with  plenty.  To  make  one  seeing 
man  sightless  would  not  make  another  sightless  man 
see.  Each  loss  of  eyes,  teeth,  and  hands  was  just 
doubled  on  every  community.     Putting  a  new  beg- 


THE    TRUE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORGIVENESS.     2S9 

gar  down  by  the  side  of  old  Bartlmseus,  son  of  Tim- 
aeus,  only  rendered  it  the  worse  for  Jericho. 

This,  then,  was  the  bearing  of  all  that  state  of 
things  out  from  under  which  Simon  Peter  put  the 
question  in  the  verse  that  has  been  quoted.  The 
answer  our  Lord  gave  him  in  return  was  at  once 
radical  and  revolutionary. 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for 
an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  But  I  say  unto  you, 
That  ye  resist  not  evil ;  but  whosoever  shall  smite 
thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also." 

What  could  he  have  desired  to  know  further, 
when  he  challenged  Jesus  as  he  did  in  his  inquiry 
concerning  the  exact  number  of  times  he  was  to  for- 
give before  he  took  vengeance  ?  What  was  his 
purpose  in  suggesting  seven  pardons  as  the  limit? 

To  forgive  an  injury  signifies  to  restore  the  per- 
son who  has  inflicted  it  to  terms  of  reconciliation. 
Simon  found  out  that  in  such  an  act  on  his  part 
there  was  demanded  a  difficult  magnanimity.  Those 
Capernaum  people  were  trying  him  seriously.  Was 
there  to  be  no  end  to  their  smiting  his  cheek,  and  to 
his  turning  the  other  cheek  for  them  to  do  it  again ! 

The  Jews  were  accustomed  to  say.  Bear  with  thine 
enemy  three  times,  and  then  duty  is  done.  It  is 
fair  to  admit  that  Peter  here  goes  beyond  his 
national  traditions.  Three  was  considered  a  sacred 
number,  but  seven  was  more  sacred  still.  This 
decent  disciple  supposes  that  seven  times  would  be 
satisfactory  even  to  Christ.  Should  he  have  to  for- 
give oftencr  than  that  ? 


290  SIMON    PETER  : 

Remember  there  never  had  been  any  forgiveness 
inculcated  before  the  time  of  Christ.  If  any  instances 
seem  on  record  in  the  Old  Testament,  they  may 
easily  be  explained  upon  some  other  principle  than 
what  is  religious.  For  example,  the  well  remem- 
bered passage  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  is  the  only 
verse  which  can  be  quoted  legitimately :  '*  If  thine 
enemy  be  hungry,  give  him  bread  to  eat;  and  if  he 
be  thirsty,  give  him  water  to  drink  :  for  thou  shalt 
heap  coals  of  fire  upon  his  head,  and  the  Lord  shall 
reward  thee."  And  it  is  likely  that  this  refers  to  noth- 
ing more  than  mere  ingenious  policy;  you  will  defeat 
enemies  more  quickly  if  you  demoralize  them  with 
embarrassing  kindness  when  they  expect  violence. 
So  as  we  read  that  David  did  not  cut  off  the  head  of 
a  man  like  King  Saul,  but  cut  off  the  skirts  of  his 
garments  instead,  we  need  not  be  pressed  with  the 
proof  of  his  superiority  in  the  highest  reaches  of 
Christian  life,  though  we  may  admire  his  self-con- 
trol. For  we  are  perplexed  enough  to  find  a  prayer 
in  David's  psalm  like  this,  without  being  compelled 
all  at  once  to  admit  his  supreme  excellence  above 
his  times: 

**  Arise,  O  Lord;  save  me,  O  my  God:  for  thou 
hast  smitten  all  mine  enemies  upon  the  cheek  bone ; 
thou  hast  broken  the  teeth  of  the  ungodly.  Break 
their  teeth,  O  God,  in  their  mouth  :  break  out  the 
great  teeth  of  the  young  lions,  O  Lord.  Let  them 
melt  away  as  waters  which  run  continually  :  when 
he  bendeth  his  bow  to  shoot  his  arrows,  let  them  be 
as  cut  in  pieces." 


THE    TRUE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORGIVENESS.     29 1 

Such  expressions  as  these  in  his  devotions  show 
that  after  all  some  explanation  of  David's  reserve  in 
attacking  the  monarch,  from  whom  he  had  received 
so  much  abuse  and  treachery,  must  be  offered  be- 
sides what  would  be  found  in  a  high-minded  and 
magnanimous  sense  of  forgiveness  of  injury.  Perhaps 
he  was  afraid  of  exasperating  the  people  at  large. 
Perhaps  he  was  moved  by  some  sort  of  reverent 
loyalty  towards  the  person  of  the  Lord's  anointed. 
For  this  is  all  there  could  be  under  such  a  dispensa- 
tion. The  apostle  quotes  this  passage  as  if  he  knew 
it  had  as  yet  never  been  understood.  The  New 
Testament  spirit  is  not  to  be  discovered  in  the  Old 
Testament  teachings.  Men  were  expected  to  blust- 
er, and  complain,  and  resist,  and  defend  themselves. 

Now  came  a  fresh  revelation  of  revolutionary  doc- 
trine in  the  life  and  sermons  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  must  assume  that  Simon  Peter  remem- 
bered the  lessons  he  had  received  earlier  in  his  Mas- 
ter's ministry  ;  but  perhaps  he  never  did  thoroughly 
appreciate  their  reach.  He  was  now  groping  around 
after  some  universal  principle  of  application  which 
would  admit  of  a  little  easier  play  of  the  system  under 
which  he  had  been  educated.  For  all  that  law  of 
retaliation  Jesus  had  substituted  a  new  law  of  love. 
There  can  be  no  denial  of  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of 
a  free,  full.  Christian  forgiveness  is  truly  the  most 
delicate  plant  that  is  ever  put  in  the  hard  soil  of  the 
human  heart.  A  man  has  to  rise  above  his  natural 
passions  in  order  to  exercise  the  grace  of  pardon. 
Self-control  of  the  highest  character  is  needed  in  it. 


292  SIMON   PETER  : 

Simon  Peter,  for  one,  was  not  good  at  that.  It  was 
an  unconcealed  weakness  of  his  to  utter  harsh  words 
and  often  explode  into  tempestuous  excitement.  For- 
giveness claims  a  showing  of  good  will  and  a  real 
generosity  towards  the  man  who  has  just  touched 
our  temper  and  done  us  an  injury.  But  Simon  felt 
that  those  neighbors  of  'his  who  had  offended  him 
had  never  had  the  right  to  be  cool  to  him,  and  to 
come  around  dunning  him  publicly  for  the  half- 
shekel  tax;  this  was  an  insult. 

How  could  an  irascible,  provoked  man  be  expect- 
ed then — how  can  he  be  expected  now — to  relish 
calm,  plain  utterances,  like  those  spoken  long  after- 
wards by  the  Apostle  Paul? 

''  Put  on  therefore,  as  the  elect  of  God,  holy  and 
beloved,  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness,  humbleness 
of  mind,  meekness,  long-suffering;  forbearing  one 
another,  and  forgiving  one  another,  if  any  man  have 
a  quarrel  against  any:  even  as  Christ  forgave  you, 
so  also  do  ye."  *'  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and 
anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil-speaking  be  put  away 
from  you,  with  all  malice  :  and  be  ye  kind  one  to 
another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even 
as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  you." 

Now,  this  being  the  spirit  of  the  new  dispensation, 
this  being  really  an  acknowledged  thing  in  Simon 
Peter's  experience,  we  need  not  suppose  he  was  try- 
ing to  get  away  altogether  from  it  in  application. 
The  explanation  of  his  words  is  found  in  the  effort 
of  his  human  ingenuity  to  draw  a  line  of  duty,  up  to 
which  obedience  could  come,  and  then  be  quit  of  all 


THE    TRUE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORGIVENESS.     293 

cumbersome  responsibility.  The  emphasis  of  his 
question  falls  on  the  enumeration  suggested  :  How 
many  times  shall  I  have  to  forgive  ? 

Just  think  how  one  of  Simon's  temperament  would 
have  rejoiced  to  find  it  settled  that  v/hen  a  seventh 
offence  had  been  reached,  there  it  would  be  actually 
religious  to  say  to  the  injurious  fellow :  "  Now  you 
have  to  take  your  turn ;  you  have  exhausted  your 
days  of  grace:  do  that  thing  only  an  eighth  time, 
just  once  more  now,  and  you  will  see  what  a  muscu- 
lar believer  will  be  indulged  in  doing  -'  " 

It  is  really  on  record,  in  one  of  the  old  histories, 
that  the  rabbis  of  Simon's  time  rather  encouraged 
people  who  were  malevolently  disposed  to  go  on 
with  a  sort  of  heedlessness  in  their  provocations 
(when  they  saw  they  unsuspiciously  approached  the 
prescribed  limit  of  forbearance),  as  if  they  actually 
hoped  there  might  be  a  fourth  offence  ;  for  it  was 
an  understood  thing  that  all  beyond  three  would 
count.  It  is  possible  that  a  man  with  a  violent  tem- 
per, like  this  fisherman  Simon,  would  wait  with  ex- 
emplary patience  through  seven  insults,  provided  he 
would  rest  assured  that  an  eighth  chance  in  his  favor 
would  leave  him  free  to  luxuriate  in  some  satisfying 
requital,  after  the  legal  and  prescribed  forbearance 
was  used  up. 

But  our  Lord  answered  his  disciple  with  a  some- 
what startling  extension  of  the  bounds.  Seven 
times  ?  Seventy  times  seven  must  be  the  limit  of  for- 
giveness, at  the  very  least !  There  is  no  need  of 
supposing  that  exactness  of  figures  was  designed  to 


294  SIMON  peter: 

be  stated  in  these  words.  The  four  hundred  and 
ninety  times  of  forbearance,  however,  would  cover 
the  ground  of  most  men's  injuries.  Christian  for- 
bearance should  reach  as  far  as  a  wrong  could  be 
felt;  revenge  should  never  be  in  order. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"AN    HUNDRED-FOLD." 

At  one  point  in  the  sacred  history  we  meet  the 
story  of  the  young  ruler  who  came  to  Jesus  asking 
how  he  might  inherit  eternal  life. 

This  man  refused  to  sell  his  possessions  and  give 
the  price  to  the  poor,  and  so  he  would  not  come  after 
Christ  and  follow  him.  The  secret  of  entire  conse- 
cration lies  in  the  recital,  and  the  lesson  is  taught  to 
all  the  disciples  who  stood  looking  on.  The  disap- 
pointed inquirer  goes  away,  and  the  scene  grows  pic- 
turesque as  we  watch  those  followers  of  our  Lord 
gazing  sorrowfully  after  him  as  he  disappears  from 
historic  mention  and  knowledge,  vanishing  from 
their  sight. 

Simon  Peter  breaks  the  silence  with  his  artless 
egotism,  abruptly  challenging  attention  to  the  better 
spirit  he  with  the  others  had  exhibited :  "  Lo,  we 
have  left  all,  and  have  followed  thee."  The  state- 
ment he  makes  is  not  doubted  or  denied;  he  re- 
ceives a  calm  reply  :  "  And  Jesus  answered  and 
said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  There  is  no  man  that 
hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or 
mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake 
and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred-fold 
now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters, 
and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with  persecu- 
tions ;  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal  life." 
13* 


296  SIMON    PETER  : 

Wc  should  like  to  know  whether  this  general  prin- 
ciple is  true  in  Peter's  case,  and  whether  it  is  to  be 
trusted  as  true  always.  There  are  at  least  three 
tests  which  men  are  accustomed  to  apply  when  they 
attempt  to  measure  any  one's  sacrifices  by  his  suc- 
cesses afterwards  in  life  :  wealth,  talents,  and  fame. 
Is  it  worth  while  just  here  to  judge  these  disciples 
by  such  methods  of  estimate  ? 

Not  a  few  of  them  had  been  fishermen ;  five  came 
from  one  town,  and  had,  as  we  have  learned  already, 
been  engaged  in  the  same  occupation  for  a  period  of 
years ;  and  of  them  Simon  Peter  was  certainly  one. 
The  first  question  we  should  ask  is  this :  *'  What  had 
they  really  'left?'" 

Their  home,  for  one  thing;  they  belonged  nowhere 
now,  but  were  going  around  with  Jesus,  a  rabbi  who 
had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.  They  had  given  up 
their  boats,  nets,  all  their  implements  of  trade,  and 
what  we  should  call  in  modern  terms,  the  ''  good 
will  of  their  business."  They  had  broken  with  their 
former  comrades;  having  become  outcasts  in  the  es- 
timate of  those  who  still  adhered  to  the  religion 
which  they  had  abjured.  They  had  forsaken  their 
old  lives  with  all  the  associations  of  their  childhood 
and  middle-age. 

So  we  ask  a  second  question:  *'  Had  they  received 
anything  as  yet  ?  "  Hints  that  any  reader  of  the 
gospels  can  easily  recall,  aid  us  in  constructing  a  re- 
ply. None  of  them  had  reached  the  end  of  his  ca- 
reer as  yet,  and  so,  of  course,  the  whole  facts  can 
not  be  recorded  at  present.     But  it  is  not  necessary 


''AN    HUNDRED- FOLD."  297 

for  us  to  think  they  were  deplorably  wretched  and 
forlorn.  There  were  times  in  which  they  appeared 
to  be  in  some  sort  of  way  at  their  former  tasks. 
They  had  boats  of  such  size  that  they  became  "  part- 
ners" in  the  management  of  them.  These  must 
have  been  larger  and  more  costly  than  those  they 
left  on  the  beach.  They  had ''hired  servants  "  to 
aid  them  in  the  drudgery.  There  are  other  indica- 
tions especially  of  Simon  Peter's  prosperity  later  on. 
This  man  for  one  portion  of  his  life  resided  at  Caper- 
naum, and  the  house  he  owned  must  have  been  of 
some  considerable  size  in  order  to  accommodate 
the  throngs  which  were  attracted  to  it  by  the  mira- 
cles of  the  Messiah.  John  also  had  a  house  in  Jeru- 
salem to  which  he  conducted  the  Virgin  Mother  after 
the  crucifixion,  and  where  for  fifteen  following  years 
he  gave  her  a  comfortable  home.  He  kept  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  inmates  of  the  high-priest's  pal- 
ace, such  as  secured  his  familiar  entrance.  Salome, 
his  mother,  was  among  those  who  ministered  to 
Christ  "of  their  substance,"  and  who  brought  ex- 
pensive aromatic  balsams  and  spices  for  the  embalm- 
ing of  the  body  of  Jesus. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  that  we  believe  they  were  al- 
together unlettered  and  rude  in  their  education. 
One  expression  there  is  in  the  Book  of  the  Acts, 
which  in  our  version  has  been  forced  to  give  an  in- 
accurate notion  of  Peter  and  John.  We  are  told 
that  when  the  apostles  were  under  arrest  for  the  ex- 
citement produced  by  the  healing  of  the  lame  man, 
the  Jewish  council   "  perceived  that  they  were  un- 


2gS  SIMON   PETER  : 

learned  and  ignorant."  These  terms  are  exagger- 
ated in  the  rendering  they  have  received.  It  is  not 
intended  as  a  stately  record  that  those  preachers  dis- 
played a  lamentable  want  of  cultivation  in  their  pub- 
lic efforts,  and  showed  themselves  coarse  and  illit- 
erate. Such  terms  mean  only  that  the  supercilious 
Pharisees  counted  the  apostles  as  without  liberal 
learning — mere  laymen,  as  it  were,  uninstructed  in 
the  letter  of  the  law  and  the  comments  upon  it. 

Perhaps  it  might  be  allowable  for  us  to  look  on- 
ward a  little  in  our  investigation.  -  Simon  Peter 
lived  to  preach  sermons ;  and  the  popular  esteem  of 
them  was  very  eminent,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
effect  of  his  eloquence  and  his  logic.  Three  thous- 
and converts  were  added  to  the  company  of  believ- 
ers as  the  fruits  of  one  of  them,  and  five  thousand 
more  converts  as  the  fruits  of  another.  Paul  is  con- 
sidered the  greatest  of  Christian  scholars ;  and  yet 
when  he  argued  for  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  he 
employed  the  same  proofs,  and  quoted  the  same  in- 
spired texts  as  those  which  Simon  had  used  before 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

There  remains,  then,  the  question  of  Simon  Peter's 
fame.  Did  it  reach  the  ''  hundred-fold  "  that  was 
promised  ?  Yes,  after  it  had  reached  the  "  persecu- 
tions "  also  which  were  included  in  the  same  en- 
gagement. 

Not  many  years  ago,  with  a  small  company  of 
tourists  we  stood  upon  the  crown  of  the  low  hill  in 
Rome,  where  the  tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella  lifts  itself 
beside  the  Appian  Way.     We   enjoyed  an  uninter- 


''AN    HUNDRED-FOLD." 


299 


rupted  reach  of  vision  for  miles  away  across  the 
Eternal  City.  The  Sabine  mountains,  lengthening 
out  their  straggling  outlines,  shadowy  and  blue, 
formed  the  framework  of  the  landscape,  on  one  side 
close  to  the  Alban  Hills.  But  the  Campagna 
opened  wide  and  free:  at  the  first,  desolate  and 
bare,  save  that  now  and  then  the  small  wild  flowers 
in  the  grass  lit  up  the  marshes  with  color;  then, 
near  the  suburbs,  there  was  here  and  there  a  villa; 
till,  at  last,  the  confused  huddle  of  the  houses  began 
to  display  their  red-tiled  roofs,  some  campaniles 
blackened  with  time,  many  palaces,  ruins,  and 
churches — mingled  in  uninteresting  masses  of  stone 
structure — all  that  goes  to  make  up  the  modern 
town,  the  mystery  and  majesty  of  Rome. 

But  just  when  the  afternoon  sun  drew  the  long 
shadows  across  the  plains,  and  that  wonderful  glow 
in  the  west  took  possession  of  the  atmosphere — that 
peculiar,  indescribable,  familiar,  ruddiness  of  the 
Roman  sunset — the  yellow  flitting  over  the  violet, 
and  the  purple  quivering  delicately  in  the  orange, 
with  matchless  shifting  and  interchange  of  hues — 
we  recognized  those  vast  edifices  beyond  the  Tiber, 
which  are  grouped  around  the  Vatican.  And  over 
irregular  bulks  of  stone,  rose  that  incomparable 
dome  of  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  like  a  round  bubble 
in  the  air,  "floating  over  the  worship  of  the  city." 
Then,  as  the  wondrous  beauty  of  that  peerless 
cupola  was  disclosed,  we  all  felt  the  meaning  of 
Hawthorne's  grand  phrases  of  description,  and 
quoted  them  with  thorough  appreciation  : — 


300  SIMON    PETEE  : 

"  At  any  nearer  view,  the  grandeur  of  St.  Peter's 
hides  itself  behind  the  immensity  of  its  separate 
parts,  so  that  we  see  only  the  front,  only  the  sides, 
only  the  pillared  length  and  loftiness  of  the  portico, 
and  not  the  mighty  whole ;  but  at  this  distance  the 
entire  outline  of  the  world's  cathedral,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  palace  of  the  world's  chief  priest,  is  taken  in 
at  once.  In  such  remoteness,  moreover,  the  im- 
agination is  not  debarred  from  rendering  its  assist- 
ance even  while  we  have  the  reality  before  our  eyes, 
and  aiding  the  weakness  of  human  sense  to  do  justice 
to  so  grand  an  object.  It  requires  both  faith  and 
fancy  to  enable  us  to  feel,  what  is  nevertheless  so 
true,  that  yonder — in  front  of  the  purple  outline  of 
the  hills — is  the  grandest  edifice  ever  built  by  man, 
now  painted  against  God's  loveliest  sky." 

Next  evening  we  were  within  the  building  at 
vespers.  Down  among  the  kneeling  throng  of 
devotees  came  the  parting  rays  of  daylight,  striking 
through  the  upper  windows  over  the  arches.  Mys- 
terious music  echoed  around  us  through  'the  cor- 
ridors, played  by  organs  concealed,  and  sung  by 
sweet  voices  out  of  sight. 

We  stood  leaning  upon  the  stone  railing  which 
surrounds  what  they  say  is  the  sepulchre  of  Simon 
Peter.  There,  they  tell  us,  is  the  dust  of  the  old 
fisherman  waiting  for  the  resurrection  morning. 
High  above  us  rose  the  canopy  of  pillared  bronze, 
fashioned  out  of  plates  which  perhaps  Paul  saw  on 
the  Pantheon  roof  when  he  entered  this  imperial  city, 
a  prisoner  of  the  Lord  in  chains.      Beside  that  crypt, 


"AN    HUNDRED-FOLD."  30I 

beneath  which  is  the  so-called  tomb  of  this  son  of 
Jonas,  in  all  the  glory  of  shining  candles  and  reverent 
hearts,  we  stood  for  an  hour  in  silence,  just  allowing 
ourselves  to  be  touched  and  swayed  by  the  unseen 
influences  around  us.  It  does  not  appear  like  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  no  man  with  sensibilities 
keen  and  imaginative — with  any  measure  of  poetic 
feeling  moving  him — is  always  able  to  resist  the  tre- 
mendous force  of  this  sensuous  show.  Here  arises 
a  monument,  which,  seen  from  outside  or  inside,  is 
the  finest  thing  in  the  world.  What  gave  it  to 
Simon  Peter  ?  This  inevitable  question  keeps  press- 
ing :  how  did  the  fisherman  of  Galilee  reach  an 
exaltation  of  fame  like  this  ?  How  was  his  life  lifted 
into  historic  significance  such  as  has  moved  the 
whole  world  for  eighteen  centuries  in  this  way  ? 
The  answer  is  easy  :  Simon  was  the  exact  agent  the 
Lord  wanted  to  employ  at  that  time.  The  explana- 
tion of  all  extraordinary  successes  in  this  man's  life 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  Christ  had  a  work  for  him, 
and  Christ  made  a  sovereign  choice  of  him  to  do  it. 
In  one  of  his  early  papers  concerning  the  apostolic 
age.  Dean  Stanley  has  called  our  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Simon's  peculiar  temperament  fitted  him 
for  that  exact  transition  moment  in  ecclesiastical 
history  to  which  he  was  invited  by  providential 
events.  A  mingling  of  patriotism  and  piety — of 
personal  enthusiasm  with  the  national  tradition — 
must  be  assumed,  before  we  can  understand  him. 
And  then  we  must  remember  how  wonderful  a  field 
he  was  ofifered. 


302  SIMON  peter: 

Indeed,  whatever  of  mighty  strength  there  was  In 
such  motives  was  secured  and  intensified  by  the 
disclpleship  of  Jesus,  into  the  depth  of  which  he 
rushed  with  his  undivided  soul.  When  Andrew 
saw  the  Form,  to  which  John  the  Baptist  pointed 
his  glance,  and  comprehended  that  the  Messiah  of 
his  race  was  at  the  moment  walking  within  reach  of 
his  hope,  he  was  doubtless  awakened  to  high  ex- 
pectations. But  Andrew  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  capable  of  such  masterful  emotions  as  his 
brother  felt  in  all  he  did  for  his  new  Teacher.  The 
exalted  heroism  of  the  Jewish  warrior  was  in  Simon's 
heart;  the  Inexhaustible  zeal  of  the  priesthood  shone 
in  his  eyes  ;  the  unforgotten  traditions  of  the  entire 
nation  nerved  him  to  action;  for  this  was  the  Messiah 
so  long  looked  for.  Hence,  when  at  last  he  came 
into  companionship  with  that  Nazarene  Rabbi,  the 
whole  power  of  his  being  went  out  towards  one  whom 
he  was  to  follow  as  Master  and  Lord. 

Sometimes  he  did  not  understand  Jesus.  He  was 
always  impulsively  rushing  up  to  him,  as  he  did  on 
the  lake-shore  just  before  the  ascension  ;  and,  at  the 
instant  of  arrival,  was  always  abashed.  His  affection 
and  his  awe  gave  way  to  each  other  In  turn,  when- 
ever either  went  into  exercise.  It  was  only  gradu- 
ally, and  through  frequent  struggles,  that  he  reached 
the  clear  light  of  the  new  life,  and  began  to  win  and 
to  wear  its  beautiful  graces,  as  the  Saviour  grew 
more  and  more   evidently  revealed  to  his  spiritual 

sight. 

But  his  fidelity  was  fixed  from  the  outset.       He 


"AN    HUNDRED-FOLD.  303 

called  Omniscience  for  a  witness  even  in  his  darkest 
hour:  "Thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee!"  And  so 
it  has  been  well  said  by  those  who  were  familiar  with 
the  two  dispensations,  that  this  fisherman  was  swept 
away  before  the  grand  impulse  of  such  disclosures  of 
the  Christ,  far  more  effectually  than  some  of  the 
seers  of  old  ;  for  he  had  the  reality  of  which  they 
had  but  the  sign.  Hence  his  loyalty  was  fixed  by 
one  flash.  What  Ezekiel's  vision,  beside  the  river 
Chebar,  was  to  him — what  Daniel's  glimmering  pic- 
tures, upon  the  banks  of  Ulai,  were  to  him — that 
Jesus'  disclosure  of  himself,  in  the  day  spent  at  Beth- 
abara,  was  to  the  fisherman  Simon.  He  was  never 
thereafter  the  same  man.  One  glance  at  Immanuel 
did  for  his  soul  what  the  resplendent  spectacle  of 
wheels  and  whirlwinds,  goats,  rams,  and  indescrib- 
able living  creatures,  going  to  and  fro  in  the  shining 
air,  did  for  the  ancient  seers.  That  spectacle  filled 
them  with  awe;  impressed  their  minds  with  solem- 
nity; kindled  them  with  faith;  subdued  them  to 
service.  And  so  here:  the  discovery  of  the  IMessiah 
in  Jesus  pervaded  the  whole  soul  of  Simon  Peter; 
he  became  a  creature  of  his  times. 

The  period  in  this  world's  history  into  which 
his  life  fell,  will  serve  as  an  explanation  of  many 
peculiarities  of  his  behavior;  it  has  in  it  what 
fashioned  the  entire  career  of  this  fisherman;  it 
shows  how  he  was  fitted  at  such  a  moment  for 
the  service  brought  to  him.  Great  exigencies 
had  arisen,  and  the  dearth  of  true  men  was 
simply  pitiable.     When  Simon  the  son  of  Jonas  was 


304  SIMON  peter: 

a  boy  of  some  ten  years,  playing  among  the  pebbles 
on  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  Jesus  the  son  of 
Mary  was  born  in  Bethlehem.  Thirty  years  after- 
ward, the  whole  Jewish  hierarchy  was  convulsed  by 
the  same  forces  that  moved  the  common  people  to 
almost  revolutionary  excitement.  There  arose  a 
tremendous  discussion  concerning  the  coming  of 
the  nation's  Messiah ;  but  at  the  same  lime  It  had  to 
meet  the  agitating  question  which  was  still  more 
awful,  whether  this  peasant  from  Nazareth,  who  had 
suddenly  appeared  as  a  wandering  rabbi  with  a 
following  behind  him,  was  himself  the  Christ  they 
sought.  Then  all  the  skeptical  forces  in  the  world 
seemed  acting  restlessly  at  once,  and  the  social, 
political,  and  religious  world  in  Judaea  began  to  rock 
with  a  tremulous  kind  of  mysterious  motion.  The 
Hindus'  fable  is  that  this  old  earth  Is  lodged  on  the 
back  of  a  tortoise,  and  frequently  along  the  ages  it 
occurs  that  the  tortoise  becomes  wearied,  and  so 
shifts  his  painful  position:  that  makes  an  earthquake. 
There  is  something  like  this  which  is  not  fable :  this 
world  does  rest  on  the  back  of  a  primeval  reptile  the 
name  of  which  is  Unbelief,  and  now  and  then  he 
turns  piteously  in  his  slime.  This  was  what  made 
most  commotion  at  the  time  when  Tiberius  was  the 
emperor  and  Herod  was  the  titular  king. 

What  was  wanted  was — a  man.  There  was  no 
lack  of  monarchs;  but  that  did  not  help  much.  In- 
spiration has  said :  ''  For  the  transgression  of  a  land 
many  are  the  princes  thereof:  but  by  a  man  of  under- 
standing and   knowledge  the  state  thereof  shall  be 


''AN    HUNDRED-FOLD."  305 

prolonged."  And  it  is  an  oriental  malediction  even 
down  to  the  present  day  for  an  exceedingly  angry 
man  to  hurl  at  his  enemy:  "May  God  multiply  your 
own  sheikhs !"  And  It  is  thought  to  be  a  very 
witty  thing  for  an  old  moralist  to  say  in  our  English 
language  :  **  Patriotism  is  the  last  refuge  of  a  scoun- 
drel." But  one  who  loves  his  country  sighs  when 
he  has  to  admit  it  is  true.  Palestine  was  a  poverty- 
stricken  tributary  of  the  Roman  Empire;  and  yet 
the  government  found  no  lack  of  tax-gatherers  to 
use  in  the  consummation  of  its  infamous  purposes  of 
extortion;  it  had  plenty  of  applications  for  the  office 
of  publican  among  the  Jews  themselves.  Standards 
of  decency  were  scandalously  lowered.  Barriers  of 
corruption  were  all  broken  down.  This  was  to  be 
expected  :  ''the  wicked  walk  on  every  side  when  the 
vilest  men  are  exalted."  But  when  Palestine  needed 
patriots,  when  the  l^ng-predlcted  King  called  for 
subjects  of  his  realm,  when  penitents  to  receive,  and 
preachers  to  proclaim  the  new  Gospel  were  wanted, 
then  there  was  almost  no  response.  Men  became 
more  precious  than  gold.  Where  were  such  men  to 
be  found  in  that  day  ? 

They  had  to  be  "raised  up:"  that  is  the  in&pired 
form  of  expression.  God  must  choose  his  own 
instruments,  train  them,  and  bring  them  into  con- 
splcuousness  by  his  own  wisdom  and  providence  and 
sovereignty. 

But  beginnings  are  very  frequently  small  and  dull. 
And  most  likely  there  will  always  be  found  some 
cavilers  who    will   wonder   at   the   choice   that  was 


3o6  SIMON  peter: 

made  of  such  persons  as  these  first  emissaries  of  the 
Gospel.  Five  apostles  at  once  from  a  little  village 
of  seafaring  men  !  And  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  to  be 
put  in  the  lead  ! 

Some  things  there  are  that  people  ought  to  re- 
member. One  is  that  Christianity,  as  a  system  of 
religious  faith,  has  been  definitely  constructed  for 
propagation  by  risi7ig.  Religion  kindles  in  an  up- 
ward direction — like  a  flame.  Grades  of  society 
must  be  set  on  fire,  like  layers  of  twigs,  at  the  bottom. 
The  Jews  were  unphilosophical  when  they  asked  as 
a  test  question,  "  Have  any  of  the  rulers  believed  on 
him  ?"  If  they  had,  the  common  people  would 
never  have  heard  him  gladly.  Humble  souls  are 
exalted  by  the  reception  of  Jesus'  Gospel ;  proud 
souls  have  to  go  down  and  be  humbled  before  they 
can  come  up.  To  have  attempted  the  conversion  of 
that  Israelitish  nation  through  the  reigning  family 
of  Herod  and  the  nobles  would  have  been  as  prepos- 
terous as  to  attempt  to  warm  the  sullen  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  by  floating  beacons  on  its  surface. 

Again,  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  all  the 
pressure  exerted  to  prove  these  men  mean  and  un- 
educated only  redounds  in  the  end  to  the  glory  of 
that  divine  wisdom  which  selected  them.  For  those 
mighty  successes  which  the  Gospel  has  achieved 
through  their  industry  show  the  working  of  celestial 
forces  in  exact  proportion  to  the  human  weakness 
involved.  This  is  the  firm  and  unfailing  retort  of 
the  ages.  If  men's  wisdom  had  taken  the  evangeli- 
zation of  such  a  world  in  hand,  it  would  have  se- 


"AN    HUNDRED-FOLD."  307 

lected  the  profoundest  rabbins,  the  acutest  philoso- 
phers, the  most  eloquent  orators,  so  as  to  grapple 
with  the  wilfulness  of  any  opposition  which  Christi- 
anity was  inevitably  to  receive.  When  Celsus  urged 
that  the  apostles  were  ''but  a  company  of  mean  and 
illiterate  persons,  sorry  mariners  and  fishermen," 
Origen  was  quick  to  return  upon  him  the  answer, 
''Then  it  is  evident  their  power  was  from  heaven, 
and  their  religion  divine." 

A  man  was  wanted ;  here,  then,  he  is  found. 
Simon  Peter  commences  a  career:  it  is  evident  that 
refined  and  elegant  people  are  not  going  to  judge 
him  fairly  at  the  beginning.  He  makes  a  dreadfully 
poor  show;  We  shall  have  to  wait  a  few  years,  and 
then  turn  to  our  Bibles  again.  We  find  there  two 
letters — called,  in  ordinary,  quick-ptft  phi;ase,  First 
and  Second  Peter.  Who  composed  these  epistles  ? 
This  same  man?  Certainly;  the  Bethsaida  fisher- 
man. Thoroughly  educated  students  have  said  that 
those  two  fragments  of  inspired  Scripture  are  finished 
in  the  finest  style  of  Greek  prose  in  the  New  Test- 
ament. Who  taught  this  man  to  write?  What 
experience  was  it  which  moulded  and  mellowed  that 
hard  character  into  refinement,  into  tenderness  ineff- 
able, gentleness  and  beauty? 

There  is  no  verse  in  the  Bible  more  manifestly 
true  than  this  one — "The  entrance  of  thy  words 
giveth  light ;  it  giveth  understanding  unto  the 
simple."  Insignificant  indeed  was  the  journey  to 
Bethabara  which  led  this  man  to  meet  his  Master. 
But  the  transformation  that  followed  it  was  over- 


3o8  SIMON  peter: 

whelming.     A  great  world  lies  between  Simon  and 
Peter. 

But  we  need  not  go  so  far  as  that.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  we  should  believe  that  the  Lord 
selected  Simon  Peter  for  such  an  office  as  that  he 
eventually  filled  because  of  his  plain  defects;  rather, 
indeed,  in  despite  of  them.  More  likely,  by  far,  he 
chose  him  for  some  v/onderfully  fine  elements  of 
character  he  possessed  for  the  certain  work  he  had 
specially  ordained  him  to  do.  He  received  him  to 
become  a  personal  Christian,  of  course,  because  by 
grace  he  v/as  a  repentant  and  believing  man.  But 
as  his  apostle  he  selected  Peter — as  he  seems  all 
through  the  New  Testament  history,  and  as  Divine 
Wisdom  seems  in  like  manner  all  through  the  Old 
Testament  history,  to  have  chosen  human  instruments 
and  agents — because  of  an  executive  efficiency  and 
promise  of  serviceableness  in  the  accomplishment  of 
some  extraordinary  results  he  desired.  For  this 
truth  comes  out  always  in  the  sacred  annals — the 
omniscient  God  selects  men  for  an  end  and  for  an 
acknowledged  purpose ;  and  he  grounds  his  prefer- 
ence on  their  real  fitness  to  compass  the  end  and 
carry  out  the  purpose.  Hence,  when  we  go  on, 
looking  ever  for  the  higher  virtues,  seeking  for  ex- 
emplary superiority  in  individual  goodness,  search- 
ing, with  eyes  sometimes  even  captious  and  exacting, 
for  striking  evidences  of  perfect  sainthood  in  the 
divinely-chosen  instruments  of  history,  most  likely 
we  shall  be  simply  disappointed,  and  perhaps 
ashamed. 


"AN    IIUXDRED-FOLD.  309 

Some  respect  is  due  to  Simon  Peter.  It  is  easy- 
enough  wildly  to  find  fault  with  him ;  but  we  may 
as  well  be  candid.  Peter  is  an  attractive  sort  of  man 
after  all.  He  is  bold,  generous,  tender-hearted  and 
earnest.  Grace  has  a  sharp  fight  with  him,  but 
Grace  wins  in  the  end ;  and  while  most  of  us  are 
stumbling  along,  and  exclaiming,  pitifully  discour- 
aged, as  did  John  Howard  more  than  once,  **  O 
Lord  God,  why  ;;2^  .^  "  we  may  as  well  remember 
that  the  last  word  this  apostle  ever  wrote  was  a 
thoughtful  admonition  and  counsel — "  Ye  therefore, 
beloved,  seeing  ye  know  these  things  before,  beware 
lest  ye  also,  being  led  away  with  the  error  of  the 
wicked,  fall  from  your  own  steadfastness.  But  grow 
in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

It  is  time  to  have  done  with  these  cavils  at  the 
behavior  of  Christian  men.  They  were  never  set 
before  us  because  of  goodness.  None  of  them  are 
perfect.  It  will  be  well  for  most  people  to  imitate 
their  strong  points,  before  they  caricature  their  weak 
ones.  Let  us  say  to  each  other  seriously — with  all 
recognition  of  Peter's  failings,  and  not  a  denial  of 
one  of  them — that  any  man  who  enters  heaven  will 
not  reach  a  low  seat  If  he  is  assigned  a  place  at  that 
old  fisherman's  feet ! 


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